EUROPEAN COMMISSION AGAINST RACISM AND INTOLERANCE RELEASED REPORT ON ARMENIA
Support A1+!SECOND REPORT ON ARMENIA
Executive summary
Armenia has taken some positive steps over recent years which are relevant to combating racism and intolerance. These include the ratification of international legal instruments of importance in this area, as well as measures to address the situation of refugees, inter alia through the adoption of a refugee law and a law facilitating acquisition of citizenship. Some steps have also been taken in the field of national minorities.
However, certain problems related to ECRI’s field of interest exist. A lack of sufficient attention and resources has been devoted to the promotion of the linguistic and cultural heritage of minority groups, and such groups face difficulties in particular in maintaining educational provision in their mother tongue. There seems to be a sense among certain minority groups that their situation has worsened compared to the majority population, while some minority groups report instances of discrimination. The large group of ethnic Armenian refugees living in the country also face problems of integration and are particularly vulnerable to social and economic disadvantage and marginalisation. Moreover, a number of problems persist relating to the practice of certain minority religions within the country.
In this report, ECRI recommends that the Armenian authorities take action in a number of fields. These recommendations cover, inter alia, the need to introduce specific legislation, structures and a global and co-ordinated policy to address the situation of minority groups, the need to address specific problems related to discrimination raised by certain minority groups, the need to address the situation of refugees, and the need to resolve existing problems concerning the practice of certain minority religions within the country.
