ABC media sent a request to the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs after receiving an alarm from Germany (for the people of Artsakh to be able to acquire refugee status, the German Migration Service writes their place of birth as Armenia, Azerbaijan). We presented the document provided to us to the ministry and asked for an explanation. In response to our request, the ministry stated:
“According to preliminary assessment, the presented document is a transcript of an interview (hearing) of an asylum seeker being examined by Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, with only the first page presented. Therefore, due to incomplete information, it is not possible to determine the possible relation of the given person with another state. It should be noted that information about the asylum application process is kept secret from the person’s country of citizenship (origin).
According to universal practice, a country other than the country of citizenship (origin) may be indicated in the data of the asylum seeker in the event that the latter has specified data related to another state or has submitted documents related to another state in his/her asylum request. Thus, in every case, first, the given citizen can answer the question of what he/she has told the relevant authorities of that country about himself/herself when seeking asylum and what reasons (fears) he/she has presented regarding his/her desire not to return to the Republic of Armenia and to receive asylum in that country.
We would also like to inform you that mostly citizens seeking asylum do not present their Armenian passport when submitting the request and receive a temporary residence permit, where the data provided verbally by that very person is noted, including the information about citizenship and place of birth, which are often distorted with the aim of getting asylum and for fear he/she could return to his/her country of origin.”
The issue continues to be under the microscope of ABC media. The report about the alarm can be found below.
