End discrimination against Artsakh refugees in Armenia
In 2024, discrimination against Artsakh refugees steadily increased in the Republic of Armenia. Sadly, the highest leaders of the Armenian government are the ones responsible for the growing hate speech and violence toward Artsakh refugees by the Armenian police. This despicable situation arises from several factors, including public statements and policies from Armenian Republic officials requiring Artsakh refugees to have passports labeling them as outsiders as well as statements from Armenia’s prime minister and parliamentarians blaming these refugees for alleged crimes and scapegoating them to deflect blame for the government’s own failings.Once the higher authorities of the Armenian government legitimized discrimination against Artsakh refugees, the insults, hate speech and violence towards them increased. The policy of marking passports with a special code for any Armenians from Artsakh (as well as for Armenian-Americans and those from other countries) is shameful, arrogant, morally bankrupt and illegal. The Criminal Code of Armenia establishes liability for public speech that instigates or propagates hatred, discrimination, intolerance or hostility towards a person or group of persons based on racial, national, ethnic or social origin and religion, political or other views.
There have been several incidents in which Artsakh refugees were severely beaten by Armenian police during routine traffic stops, just because their passports were coded as outsiders. After the refugees were taken to hospitals, these police officers wrote up charges based on falsehoods.
These beatings by police started in early summer and have continued without abatement. Although lawyers representing these Artsakh refugees have filed complaints against Armenian policemen, not a single police officer has been reprimanded or punished for targeting and severely beating Artsakh refugees. This summer, Artsakh refugees and Artsakh government leaders and officials were also targeted for participating in public demonstrations and exercising free speech.
The Artsakh refugees are victims of a genocide perpetrated by the Azerbaijani government. Blaming genocide victims for Armenia’s problems is a cynical and diabolic ploy to divert public attention from the real causes of Armenia’s problems. Legitimizing discrimination against Artsakh Armenians spreads resentment in society and promotes violence. As a Christian nation, the Armenian government’s discriminatory policies and disparaging language against fellow Armenians not only go against the tenets of Christianity but the Armenian nation as whole.
Ending discrimination starts with the highest levels of government leadership. Armenia needs to end its policy of marking passports to identify Artsakh refugees. The leadership of the Armenian government must reverse its damaging propaganda of blaming the Artsakh refugees for Armenia’s problems and labeling them as “guests” and “outsiders.” Artsakh refugees, who are victims of genocide, deserve compassion.
Discriminating against Armenians based on their national identity must end immediately. Applying and receiving citizenship in Armenia should not be related to receiving financial or welfare assistance. The policy of using codes to mark passports violates the human rights of the victims of the Artsakh genocide and legitimizes discrimination against all Armenians. Any Artsakh refugee who has lived in Armenia for six consecutive months should immediately be granted full citizenship and have the identification mark removed from their passports.
The Turks marked and designated Armenians and other minorities in a special category. The Nazis issued identification cards to mark Jews and other minorities, and the Belgian and Rwandan governments marked the driver’s licenses of Rwandan citizens to identify and separate the Hutus from the Tutsis. Ending discrimination against Artsakh refugees in the Republic of Armenia is the most important step the government can take to strengthen itself internally as a nation state and to end the violence and discrimination against the victims of the second Armenian genocide.
The Armenian government needs to promote unity and social cohesion at a time when Armenia is still vulnerable and constantly threatened by its neighbors. Armenia must stop institutionalized segregation and focus on its similarities with the people of Artsakh and the Armenian Diaspora to build a better Armenia.
Jacob D. Bournazian, Esq.
Latest posts by Jacob D. Bournazian, Esq. (see all)
- End discrimination against Artsakh refugees in Armenia - October 23, 2024
Armenians are their own worst enemy…corrupt, weak, incompetent government…nothing will get better until a government change for the better…what a loss of important time during dangerous times for Armenia that cant be recouped…..not good
If losing their family members, homes, livelihoods, friends and a whole homeland was not traumatic enough, that the Artsakhi refugees are deliberately treated so badly, discriminated and denied Armenian citizenship by the Pashinyan government, and that it hardly generates protests in Armenia, is appalling. We know why Pashinyan treats the 150,000 Artsakhis so badly and denies them Armenian citizenship, because it would mean a voter base who would vote him out. Nobody should justify and defend this traitor who betrayed the Artsakhis and threw them under the bus.
At least one tenth of the Artskahi refugees have left Armenia for other countries, especially where they have family members, and it could well turn into an exodus from Armenia itself. If this was due to a lack of money and resources by the Armenian state, it might have been excused. But that the Artsakhis are leaving Armenia because of government-directed discrimination and maltreatment, is unforgivable.
Presumably a distinct numeric coding of Armenians in Arktash and those born abroad has been Yerevan s policy since independence? There is also a prosaic reason of poor morale from defeat. In the first war which was successful it still led to much privation in Armenia aggravated by the closure of the nuclear power station due to the earthquake and harsh weather and the hydroelectric power supply. However with the defeat in the second war, entrusting security to Russia who failed to safeguard the population and their exodus. Inevitably this leads to a sense of what was the point of this and because of you Arktash Armenians we Armenia are in an isolated weak position hence a turning on them as a source of embarrassment. Also it’s possible Pashinyan government which seems to prefer the police to the army wants them to leave Armenia and if they can’t return to Azerbaijan then to join the international diaspora to remove them from the equation. It’s sad to see the Armenians treating their kith and kin like the Arabs for all their bluster if brotherhood have done with the Palestinians and even with Syrians in Lebanon
Shame on the Armenian government and pashinian personally. That is why Turks,azeri will be harassing Armenians, knowing that Armenian government itself doing it. The government of Armenia is worse enemy for their own people. West has to stop any aid to the government and put pressure on it till it stops and government changed. Pashinian is disgrace of Armenia!
Good job, Jake.
It is indeed unfortunate that the Artsakh issue and the people of Artsakh have been used for political purposes by corrupt political forces in Armenia and abroad. It is very simplistic to blame the current administration and find faults with how they are treating the people of Artsakh easily forgetting in the process the geopolitical pressures Armenia is being subjected to by its powerful neighbours and near neighbours.
It is easy to forget that despite Armenia’s perilous economic situation the government has spent and allocated more than a billion dollars on providing support and assistance to the displaced people of Artsakh.
The current plight of the people of Artsakh is due to the corrupt and incompetence behaviour and policies of previous regimes who ruled in Armenia for decades and failed to either recognise the independence of Artsakh or unify it with Armenia proper.
Decades of incompetence and misrule meant that while the Azeri population kept increasing the populations of both Armenia and Artsakh continued to decline making both entities vulnerable.
The Artsakh clan that has been living in Yerevan for decades are also responsible for weakening their brethren in Artsakh as they chose to live in the comforts of Yerevan for decades instead of strengthening their place of birth Artsakh.
The people of Artsakh desperate for survival after the Azeri imposed blockade that lasted for months even seriously contemplated joining Russia and becoming Russian citizens but to no avail as Russia surrendered Artsakh to the Turks and prematurely pulled out its peace keepers from the region.
So before attributing blamed against the current authorities of Armenia which have made numerous mistakes one needs to also look at the underlying causes for the Artsakh debacle and what transpired since the 1994 ceasefire. That analysis shows that all regimes that have ruled Armenia and to a lesser degree Artsakh contributed to the current situation and plight.
Hagop
Exactly so alas people do need to ask themselves questions that could be ignored before
U know what let’s not be quick to find blames we’re not there we don’t know the details
First of all all those Armenian dyed fighting azeriz because of artasham and there people.isnt that more than enough sacrifice? Now they have to give them what they don’t have?
There the once who chose to flee with out firing single shot .first sign of trouble and they hide and tell Armenians to go fight and take there lands back.
Come on
There passport is defrend because there not Armenian citizens.
And they never called themselves Armenian it was always garabagjsi
Thanks for coming to help us fight against the genocidal azerbichanis and toorks mr Karlo. when you have a chance come visit my brothers that didn’t fight 30 to 1 and protect our homeland as much as possible until a fool like you sitting in the prime ministers seat of Armenia said Armenia will not interfere or be drawn into a conflict. spineless keyboard warrior
That the Artsakhi Armenians did not fight for Artsakh, and that Armenia did all the fighting there, is a lie. The Artsakhi Armenians bravely defended their homeland with the inadequate and antiquated weapons, and the meagre resources they had. Thousands of Artsakhi soldiers died to defend Artsakh. No one should blame the Artsakhi people for the corruption and incompetence of the leaders of Artsakh and Armenia, and for the lack of official recognition of Artsakh even by the Republic of Armenia.
The Artsakhi Armenians are no less Armenian than the Armenians of the Republic of Armenia. They are the same ethnic group, speak the same language, the vast majority belong to the same church, have the same folk songs, folk costumes, folk traditions, the same cuisine, with regional and climatic variations. How “more Armenian” do they need to be?
This scapegoating and discrimination of Artsakhi Armenians, blaming them for the problems in Armenia, this lack of sympathy and solidarity for them by their own ethnic kin, also in the comment section, is disgusting and inexcusable.
Jacob, Thank you for writing this article. Well articulated. There needs to be solidarity among the Armenian people. We can disagree (which we do alot) but at the end of the day we need to have each other’s back. When you are cruel to your fellow Armenian, that is what makes the Turk happy. Every Turk (Azeris are Turks) who shows no contrition for the suffering of our nation and who continues to deny the Armenian Genocide is and will always be our enemy.