On November 6, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Armen Ghazaryan and Head of Migration and Citizenship Service Nelly Davtyan accompanied Johannes Lukhner, Deputy Director General of Migration and Internal Affairs of the European Commission, during a visit to "Special Accommodation" SNOC operating under the ISS.
Nelly Davtyan presented the conditions, needs and existing problems of the current accommodation, noting that 60 asylum seekers are currently accommodated in the 22 existing rooms, while the need is significantly greater.
Johannes Luchner toured the area, talked with asylum seekers, inquired about their main countries of origin, living conditions, and procedures for examining claims.
After that, the guest was introduced to the newly built residence of Abovyan city, which will soon be put into operation. It was noted that the construction was carried out with the support of the International Center for Migration Policy Development, with funding from the governments of Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands.
During the tour, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Armen Ghazaryan presented the annual average indicators of asylum requests, noting that if in previous years they were on average 200-250, then in recent years they reached 800-900. He also referred to the planned changes in the law regulating the asylum and refugee sphere.
The members of the EU delegation visited the family and standard rooms, got acquainted with the furniture purchased with the support of the UN Refugee Agency. It was noted that the new accommodation will allow to accommodate up to 120 people at the same time.
As part of the visit of the delegation led by Johannes Lukhner to Armenia, meetings were also held in which the Deputy Minister of Justice Anna Karapetyan, Deputy Head of the Office of the Security Council Tatev Antonyan, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs participated.
During the meetings, the visa liberalization action plan and its performance benchmarks were discussed in detail.
In his speech, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Armen Ghazaryan referred to the provisions related to the improvement of internal security systems, emphasizing issues related to the adoption and implementation of the crime prevention and combating strategy, increasing the efficiency of the law enforcement system, expanding public awareness, as well as strengthening the protection of human rights.
Head of the Migration and Citizenship Service, Nelly Davtyan, presented the process of creating a complex document security ecosystem, the directions for revising the RA citizenship legislation, as well as the steps to strengthen the return and reintegration systems.
Deputy Minister of Justice Anna Karapetyan addressed the fight against corruption, strengthening and enforcement of anti-discrimination legislation, bringing the personal data protection system in line with EU standards, as well as strengthening the protection of human rights.
Tatev Antonyan, deputy head of the RA Security Council office, presented the issues of complex (integrated) management of borders, improvement of border inspections and control, as well as strengthening of data exchange and interaction.
