UNHCR Armenia Advocacy Paper

UNHCR is mandated by the UN General Assembly to identify and protect stateless people and to prevent and reduce statelessness. UNHCR fulfills its mandate by working with governments, other UN agencies and civil society to address statelessness globally. It is within this spirit that UNHCR is offering the following observations and recommendations on statelessness in the Republic of Armenia. The recommendations presented in this paper are based on the UNHCR Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons and authoritative guidance on the matter.

This document has been prepared to structure and facilitate advocacy efforts of UNHCR and its partners in addressing statelessness in Armenia in accordance with the Global Action Plan to End Statelessness: 2014-2024 and the Government of the Republic of Armenia pledges at the High-Level Segment on Statelessness held at UNHCR’s Executive Committee 70th session in October 2019.

The term “stateless person” is defined according to Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (the 1954 Convention): “stateless person” means a person who is not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law.