THE STATE CAN ONLY GRANT A STATUS
Support A1+!Head of the Migration department of the Ministry of regional governing Gagik Eganyan gets 4-5 applications a day from the Armenians of Iraq. Today during the seminar titled “Dual citizenship and migration issues under the light of integration processes” Gagik Eganyan mentioned that about 600 Armenians have been granted temporary status; 390 of them are from Lebanon. «The citizens of the countries at war choose Armenia as a safe country. But what is important is that 20 of the citizens of Lebanon are Arabs who could have found refuge in other countries», Gagik Eganyan said.
The Migration department does not have data about those who go back, as «there is no request to inform us when they leave. But some of them do leave, and it's natural».
According to Gagik Eganyan, Armenians living in foreign countries must have ground for living in our country when they come back. Since 2002 Armenia grants those who migrate to Armenia status of temporary protection. What is interesting is that the only thing the state does is granting status: no help is offered when it comes to housing or transport.
Asked the question what we will do if Russia follows the same policy towards Armenians as it does towards Georgians, Gagik Eganyan answered, «In that case not only the state, but also the Diaspora will support us».
