Armenian authorities failed to ensure effective support for Karabakh Armenians, ECRI says

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), a Council of Europe independent expert body, has published today its conclusions on the implementation by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia of its recommendations provided in 2023, for which priority follow-up was requested.

For Armenia, the first priority recommendation to the authorities was to engage in awareness-raising activities on the importance of diversity and tolerance in society by supporting concrete actions in co-operation with the Human Rights Defender and relevant civil society representatives from different backgrounds, including ethnic, religious and sexual minorities, with the aim of preventing and combating racist and LGBTI-phobic hate speech, hate-motivated violence and discrimination.

ECRI takes note of the efforts made and the initial steps taken, including in the framework of the Armenia’s Action Plan on the Human Rights Protection National Strategy 2023-2025, but concludes that its recommendation has only been partially implemented.

The second priority recommendation for Armenia was to adopt an Integration Strategy accompanied by suitable financial resources and capacity-building to ensure effective support actions for refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. ECRI was informed by the Armenian authorities of several actions taken to respond to the unprecedented humanitarian challenge due to the large-scale displacement of over 100,000 Karabakh Armenians as a result of Azerbaijan’s military operation in the region on 19 and 20 September 2023. While acknowledging the challenges faced by the Armenian authorities and taking positive note of quick relief responses through cash assistance as well as measures aimed at facilitating access to social protection, expanding access to healthcare, and ensuring education for displaced children, ECRI concludes that, in the present state of affairs, its recommendation has not yet been implemented.