Armenian International Policy Research Group
Washington Office:
P.O. Box 28179
Washington, DC 20038-9998
USA
Phone: (202) 623-8605, (202) 458-2589
Fax: (202) 478-0934
Yerevan Office:
50 Nalbandyan Str, Suite 16,
Yerevan 0010, Armenia
Phone: (+374 10) 528 723
Contact Person: Naira Harutyunyan at
<[email protected]>
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
June 22, 2006
For Immediate Release
AIPRG Conference on Dual Citizenship Offers a Forum for Concepts and Views
Yerevan, Armenia – On June 17-18, 2006, the Armenian International
Policy Research Group (AIPRG) held an international conference entitled
"Dual Citizenship: Alternative Arrangements, Economic Implications and
Social Dimensions." The conference covered various topics surrounding
dual citizenship, including legal, economic, and socio-political
aspects, as well as international experience with dual citizenship
and regularizing Diaspora-homeland relationships. The event was
co-sponsored by the UNDP-Armenia, Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(ARF-Dashnaktsutiun), Armenian Bar Association, American University
of Armenia, and Birthright Armenia, and held in collaboration with
relevant government agencies and civil society groups.
The two-day conference drew together over 200 participants, including
high-level members of the government and National Assembly, multiple
political party representatives, members of local and Diaspora civil
society groups, academic institutions, and student bodies.
The conference was opened by AIPRG representatives who emphasized the
importance of holding such a conference ahead of the parliamentary
debate on the dual citizenship law to help achieve a more active and
meaningful arrangement between Armenia and the Diaspora.
Following the opening remarks, the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Vartan Oskanian, in his keynote opening address stated his support of
dual citizenship arrangement in Armenia as a way of addressing the
historical injustice that has divided the nation. Acknowledging the
existence of legal and administrative problems, Mr. Oskanian stressed
the importance of introducing simplified procedures for administering
the dual citizenship arrangement for Diasporan Armenians. He also
mentioned that dual citizenship may be viewed as a mechanism for
addressing Armenia’s growing demographic imbalances.
The Minister of Justice, Davit Harutyunyan, who chaired the first panel
session entitled "Legal Aspects Related to Dual Citizenship", touched
upon the experience of other countries in dealing with issues related
to dual citizenship and pointed out that this issue is currently on
the agenda for debate in the National Assembly of the Republic of
Armenia. Mr. Harutyunyan also highlighted the government’s desire to
see a Law on Dual Citizenship passed before the end of 2006.
In his keynote luncheon speech Peter Spiro, Professor of International
Law at the University of Georgia, presented the experience of the
US and other countries with regard to dual citizenship arrangements
stating that "dual citizenship is an increasingly commonplace incident
of globalization, and in approximately thirty years will be universally
accepted." He stressed that if the experience of other countries is
of any guidance, a liberal process of acquisition of dual citizenship
is likely to provide the states with a valuable asset.
Other presentations and discussions on the first day focused on the
international experiences with, and economic and social aspects of,
dual citizenship. This was followed by a roundtable on individual
country experiences with regularizing Diaspora-homeland relations
chaired by David Gregorian, Co-chair of AIPRG, featuring Reena
Pandey, India’s ambassador in Armenia; Ioannis Kiparissidis, the
General Director of the General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad; Patrick
O`Sullivan, Irish Diaspora Research Unit of the University of Bradford;
and Raffy Semerdjian of Saint Josef University in Lebanon. The final
session of Day 1 discussed the labor market and general developmental
implications of repatriation and was chaired by Deputy Minister of
Finance David Avetisyan.
The second day of the conference featured panels dealing with
the socio-cultural aspects of integrating Diaspora Armenians into
the socio-political and culture fabric of Armenia, as well as the
examination of cases of repatriation both in the 1940s and during
the third Armenian Republic. The panel’s chair, Professor Aharon
Adibekyan, provided a balanced opening statement on cons and pros of
dual citizenship for Armenia.
Following the first panel, three alternative proposals on dual
citizenship arrangement for Armenia were presented by Gevorg
Malkhasyan, First Deputy Minister of Justice; Hrair Karapetyan, Head
of the Parliamentary Faction of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
in the National Assembly; and David Grigorian. Presentations focused on
the differences in their treatment of issues related to voting rights,
military service, and taxation issues pertaining to dual citizens.
In his presentation, Grigorian stressed that the Affiliate Citizenship
status proposed by AIPRG aims at addressing historical injustice, by
providing Armenians around the world with a formal link to the country
of their ancestors, and creating opportunities for repatriation and,
through that, enhancing Armenia’s economic potential and strengthening
national security. The proposal offers flexible and easy-to-implement
mechanisms of achieving these objectives without causing any undue
legal difficulties with countries hosting Diaspora Armenians that
prohibit dual citizenship.
These three proposals were subsequently discussed by a panel of legal
experts. Peter Spiro, Henk Van Goethem, a Legal Adviser at UNHCR’s
Department of International Protection Services, and Vardan Poghosyan,
Director of "Democracy" Center of Political and Legal Studies, placed
the existing proposals in the context of the international legal
norms while acknowledging the specifics of Armenia and its Diaspora.
Professor Andranik Migranyan of the Moscow Institute of International
Relations, the keynote luncheon speaker of Day 2, expressed his belief
that dual citizenship in Armenia would help import new values of civic
engagement and facilitate the transformation of state-civil society
relations in Armenia. In his opinion, the right to vote should be
granted without tying it to residency requirement. He also highlighted
the problem of approximately 500,000 Armenians who "illegally" (from
Armenian legislation’s point of view) hold citizenships in both Russia
and Armenia.
The conference concluded with an open discussion and brainstorming
session moderated by Dr. Anna Ohanyan of Stonehill College in
Massachusetts, also an AIPRG Fellow. The open forum touched upon the
issues related to the possible ramifications of dual citizenship
in both Armenia and the Diaspora. During this session a research
agenda was set up, with the aim of clarifying the demand for dual
citizenship among the members of the Diaspora and quantifying potential
implications of dual citizenship for Armenia. A wide array of views was
expressed from those seeing dual citizenship as an absolute necessity
for Armenia and the Diaspora to those questioning the need for any
type of new citizenship arrangement.
Overall, the conference managed to achieve its goal of initiating a
professional public debate on the issue of dual citizenship ahead of
the deliberations in the parliament. It succeeded in bringing together
a broad spectrum of stakeholders to discuss the issues relevant for
dual citizenship, including its impact on Armenia and the Diaspora,
and to subject the existing proposals of dual citizenship to public
scrutiny. All materials regarding the conference, including the
proposed concepts, are available through the AIPRG website at:
* * *
AIPRG is a non-partisan, non-political association that researches
and encourages the dissemination of discussion of public policy
issues in Armenia and the Diaspora. AIPRG aims to consolidate the
existing Armenia related expertise around the world by bringing
together accomplished researchers and practitioners of economics,
political science, law, and governmental affairs. By way of research
and conferences, AIPRG collaborates with Development Agencies,
International Financial Institutions, the donor community, individual
researchers, and policy practitioners in order to achieve a greater
understanding of the development issues related to Armenia and the
Diaspora. Registered as a 501(c)3 corporation in Washington, AIPRG has
an office in Yerevan and unites over 40 Fellows from around the world.
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
