Deputy Minister of Justice Arpine Sargsyan attaches importance to the role of the to-be-established Ministry of Internal Affairs with regard to protection of refugees and asylum seekers

Deputy Minister of Justice Arpine Sargsyan delivered an opening speech at the meeting entitled "Comprehensive Reform of Legislation on International Protection" and held within the scope of the "Strengthening Migration Management Capacities in Support of Government Reform Agenda in Line with CEPA" project.

In her speech, Deputy Minister Sargsyan noted that systemic reforms need to be implemented in the field of migration, the basis of which is establishment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs where the Migration and Citizenship Service will be body in charge of the field of migration.

According to Sargsyan, alongside systemic reforms, the second direction is the contextual changes in the field of protection of asylum seekers and refugees. As the Deputy Minister emphasised, one of the current key issues in this field is that the legislation does not specify the status of persons who do not meet the criteria for status of refugee, but enjoy the protection ensured by the principle of non-refoulement known in international law, as in case of return there is a risk of torture, degrading treatment or punishment or death sentence in the country of origin. Deputy Minister Sargsyan attached importance to the possibility of envisaging effective measures for protection for this group of cases both in legislative and practical fields, taking into consideration the balanced combination of guarantee of the principle of non-refoulement and sensitive security issues. Ensuring trained personnel in the field of migration was set aside as the third direction.

Deputy Minister Sargsyan expressed gratitude to the EU Delegation to Armenia and the representation of UNHCR Armenia for supporting the Government reform agenda for strengthening migration management capacities in line with CEPA.

Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Vache Terteryan; Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin; Human Rights Defender Kristinne Grigoryan; Acting Representative of UNHCR Armenia Andrey Aryupin; Head of the Migration Service at the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Armen Ghazaryan and Judge of the Administrative Court Ani Harutyunyan also participated in the meeting.