In 2023, over 100,000 people were forcibly displaced from Nagorno Karabakh and received temporary protection status (TPS) in Armenia. By the end of 2024, only 6,682 had applied for citizenship, and 5,510 had obtained it.

We previously explored why the people of Artsakh are hesitant to accept RA citizenship and delved into the validity of their concerns. Now, we will explain why they have received RA passports and identification cards, why they are still not considered Armenian citizens despite having these documents, why they have been granted temporary protection status, and what potential risks granting full citizenship could pose for them all.

Could the NK Armenians be considered citizens of the Republic of Armenia?

According to the Law On Citizenship of the Republic of Armenia, which took effect on November 28, 1995, the following persons are recognized as the citizens of the Republic of Armenia:

1) Citizens of the former Arm. SSR permanently residing on the territory of the Republic of Armenia, who until the enactment of the Constitution has not acquired the citizenship of the another State or has rejected that citizenship within one year from the day of the enactment of this Law;
2) Stateless persons or former citizens of other USSR republics who are not foreign citizens permanently residing in the RA and before 31 December 2003 have applied for the acquisition of the RA citizenship (amended on 20 March 2002);
3) The former citizens of the Armenian SSR, who live out side the Republic of Armenia and have not acquire the citizenship of another country (amended on 12 April 2001).

Article 16 states that a Child up to 14 years of age whose parents have acquired citizenship of the Republic of Armenia acquires citizenship of the Republic of Armenia. Thus, individuals born between November 28, 1981, and November 28, 1995, automatically acquire RA citizenship through their parents.

According to the law, individuals displaced from Nagorno Karabakh who were not citizens of Soviet Armenia, did not explicitly apply for citizenship, and did not acquire citizenship through their parents—regardless of their residence in Armenia—are not considered citizens of Armenia.

The citizenship law of the USSR specified that every citizen of a Union Republic is also automatically a citizen of the USSR. Additionally, every citizen of an autonomous republic is a citizen of the Union Republic to which they belong.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia, the former USSR established specific passport blanks for each republic. For example, Armenia used the code CL, Azerbaijan had ЖГ, and Georgia utilized ТИ. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, these codes facilitated the separation of populations among the newly independent countries. Nagorno-Karabakh was an autonomous region within Soviet Azerbaijan, and as a result, the people of Artsakh were assigned the Azerbaijani code ЖГ.

According to Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Armen Ghazaryan, under nor circumstances the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh could be regarded as citizens of Azerbaijan. He reached this conclusion after examining the Azerbaijani Law on Citizenship, adopted in 1998.

The question arises: which country’s citizens are the people of Nagorno-Karabakh? When the citizenship laws were enacted—1995 in Armenia and 1998 in Azerbaijan—neither law was applied to the population of Nagorno-Karabakh. The answer is clear: they are citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh. Although an unrecognized state, Nagorno-Karabakh functioned as a state entity with its legal system. This establishes the first premise: Armenian citizenship was not extended to the population of Nagorno-Karabakh from the outset,” said the deputy minister.

Armen Ghazaryan explains that the distinction between Nagorno Karabakh (NK) and Armenia (RA) residents was not solely based on passport codes. Instead, it primarily occurred through the registration system. Residents of Nagorno Karabakh were identified as those who maintained their NK registration and received a different model of passport in Armenia.

“Before the registration change, when a person applied to the Republic of Armenia (RA) and had a Karabakh registration, the RA administrative body would contact the Nagorno-Karabakh passport service to request permission to change the individual’s registration. Armen Ghazaryan stated, ‘It turns out that the previously accepted method of changing registration can no longer be applied, as the body to which such requests can be made no longer exists.'”

Why did Artsakh citizens receive passports modeled after the Republic of Armenia?

On February 24, 1999, an agreement was signed between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia regarding the “organization of the passport system.” This agreement allows Armenia to issue passports to residents of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic under certain circumstances. Armenia referenced this agreement in the European Court of Human Rights within the context of the Chiragov and Others v. Armenia case. This case, filed in 2005, concerns the rights of displaced persons affected by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Article 1 of the agreement establishes that the parties agree that their citizens have the right to free movement and residence within the territory of each party.

According to the agreement, citizens of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) who wish to leave their country or Armenia can obtain a passport from the Republic of Armenia. However, acquiring an RA passport does not confer Armenian citizenship to NKR citizens. These passports are valid only for traveling outside the territories of NKR and Armenia and cannot be used as identity documents for internal purposes.

In the same court case, the Armenian government stated that fewer than 1,000 people had received passports under the 1999 agreement. 

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 20,196 individuals with temporary protection status were given RA ID cards. During a discussion in the National Assembly about granting Armenian citizenship to those forcibly displaced from Artsakh, concerns were raised over the issuance of these identification cards to Artsakh residents, given that they were not citizens of the Republic of Armenia. The Law of the Republic of Armenia, “On Identification Cards,” stipulates that only citizens of the Republic of Armenia are eligible to receive an ID card.

We asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs about this issue. In their response, the department stated that since Nagorno-Karabakh did not have an ID card system, the document was issued to facilitate the identification of citizens. They clarified that it does not confer any additional privileges.

“Following the RA government’s decision N 1864 on October 26, 2023, and subsequent sector regulations, identification cards have not been issued to forcibly displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh,” the ministry’s written response stated.

During a meeting with Artsakh residents, Deputy Minister Armen Ghazaryan stated that identification cards should not have been issued but were issued in violation of the law. “Therefore, we cannot cause problems for so many people now,” he added.

Does accepting Republic of Armenia citizenship deprive Artsakh residents of access to free medical services?

During a discussion in the National Assembly, an Artsakh citizen claimed that settlers lose their access to free medical services upon becoming citizens of the Republic of Armenia.

However, the Ministry of Health addressed this assertion, stating it is untrue. They referred to Government Decision 318, which outlines the list of state order holders entitled to these services.

“Forcibly displaced individuals from Nagorno Karabakh are included in the list of recipients eligible for state orders under temporary protection status. Accepting citizenship of the Republic of Armenia (RA) does not disqualify them from receiving assistance. Our primary concern is not the passport, but the decision 318 issued by the government, which outlines the list of beneficiaries,” stated Mariam Tsatryan, the ministry spokesperson.

The government’s response indicated that forcibly displaced individuals can access Primary Health Care (PHC) services. This means that their medical care should either be provided free of charge or under preferential terms, and medications should be distributed at no cost.

What is TPS?

• On October 26, 2023, the government issued decision 1864-N, recognizing those forcibly displaced from Nagorno Karabakh as refugees and granting them temporary protection (TP) status.
  

A refugee is an individual outside their country of citizenship or permanent residence who is unable or unwilling to return due to a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, nationality, religion, membership in a particular social group, or political beliefs.

According to Article 62 of the RA Law On Refugees and Asylum, individuals granted temporary protection have the same rights and responsibilities as refugees. However, this status is intended for urgent and temporary protection, typically issued in response to sudden and large-scale influxes of people. Those under temporary protection do not need to submit individual asylum applications; instead, a single case is opened for the entire group.

Therefore, the primary advantage of temporary protection status is that it allows for expedited processing of cases on a group basis.

For refugees who have received temporary protection, their identity document consists of a passport with the code 070 and a temporary protection certificate. On January 27, 2024, the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that Artsakh citizens must present their temporary protection certificate and their passport when traveling.

Ukrainians who sought refuge in the EU due to the Russian-Ukrainian war have also been granted temporary protection status. As of September 2024, approximately 4.2 million Ukrainians benefit from this status.

Who can benefit from TPS?

According to Decision 1864-N, not all displaced persons are eligible for temporary protection, which also includes social support. Citizens of the Republic of Armenia or any foreign country will not receive this status.

Citizens of Artsakh can apply for temporary protection status if they meet the following criteria: they possess a passport with the Nagorno-Karabakh code 070 and are registered in the region. Additionally, one of their parents must be a citizen of Nagorno-Karabakh, while the other parent must be a citizen of Armenia (RA), or both parents must be citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh.

If minors do not have a passport with code 070 and are not registered, they will be considered citizens of Armenia (RA) and will not qualify for temporary protection status. This is because a parent who is a citizen of Nagorno-Karabakh cannot pass on their citizenship to their children if they are not registered.

According to Article 12 of the law on Citizenship of the Republic of Armenia, if a child is born in Armenia and the parents are unable to transfer their citizenship (which applies to residents of Nagorno Karabakh), the child automatically acquires the citizenship of the Republic of Armenia, regardless of the parents’ citizenship status.

What risks would arise without the TPS certificate?

According to migration expert Tatevik Bezhanyan, granting citizenship of the Republic of Armenia (RA) to all forcibly displaced persons could pose risks for both the people of Artsakh and the Republic of Armenia.

“Firstly, during the Chiragov Case, the Republic of Armenia established that the people of Artsakh are not citizens of the Republic of Armenia, even though they hold Republic of Armenia passports issued for travel purposes.Granting citizenship to forcibly displaced individuals and refugees at the border without addressing their status would strip them of the opportunity to access all their rights associated with being forcibly displaced and recognized as refugees. In effect, they would become citizens of the Republic of Armenia but would lose their right of return and the right to their property. It is crucial to formally recognize their status as forcibly displaced individuals and refugees.” This decision is critical from this perspective, according to the migration expert interviewed by Verified.

According to Tatevik Bezhanyan, granting temporary protection status mitigated certain risks. She explained that Chiragov’s lawsuit against Armenia claimed that Azerbaijan’s policy was to assert that Armenian citizens resided in Artsakh. As a result, the territory of Artsakh, which Azerbaijan considers its own, could be viewed as occupied by Armenia.

Bezhanyan views the refugee certificate as extremely important, referring to it as a “salvation card.” This certificate indicates that the people of Artsakh are not subject to return to Azerbaijan.

In such cases, individuals are typically sent either to their country of permanent residence or to their country of citizenship. In this situation, the country of permanent residence is controlled by Azerbaijan, and the people of Artsakh do not possess a country of citizenship. Therefore, they should have been sent to Azerbaijan unless they had the document certifying their refugee status and temporary protection issued by Armenia. For this reason, I refer to it as a “salvation card,” says Tatevik Bezhanyan.