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  • AIPRG Conference on Dual Citizenship Offers a Forum for Concepts and

    Armenian International Policy Research Group

    Washington Office:
    P.O. Box 28179
    Washington, DC 20038-9998
    USA
    Phone: (202) 623-8605, (202) 458-2589
    Fax: (202) 478-0934

    Yerevan Office:
    50 Nalbandyan Str, Suite 16,
    Yerevan 0010, Armenia
    Phone: (+374 10) 528 723

    Contact Person: Naira Harutyunyan at
    <[email protected]>
    E-mail: [email protected]
    Website: http://www.armpolicyresearch.org

    June 22, 2006


    For Immediate Release


    AIPRG Conference on Dual Citizenship Offers a Forum for Concepts and Views

    Yerevan, Armenia - On June 17-18, 2006, the Armenian International
    Policy Research Group (AIPRG) held an international conference entitled
    "Dual Citizenship: Alternative Arrangements, Economic Implications and
    Social Dimensions." The conference covered various topics surrounding
    dual citizenship, including legal, economic, and socio-political
    aspects, as well as international experience with dual citizenship
    and regularizing Diaspora-homeland relationships. The event was
    co-sponsored by the UNDP-Armenia, Armenian Revolutionary Federation
    (ARF-Dashnaktsutiun), Armenian Bar Association, American University
    of Armenia, and Birthright Armenia, and held in collaboration with
    relevant government agencies and civil society groups.

    The two-day conference drew together over 200 participants, including
    high-level members of the government and National Assembly, multiple
    political party representatives, members of local and Diaspora civil
    society groups, academic institutions, and student bodies.

    The conference was opened by AIPRG representatives who emphasized the
    importance of holding such a conference ahead of the parliamentary
    debate on the dual citizenship law to help achieve a more active and
    meaningful arrangement between Armenia and the Diaspora.

    Following the opening remarks, the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
    Vartan Oskanian, in his keynote opening address stated his support of
    dual citizenship arrangement in Armenia as a way of addressing the
    historical injustice that has divided the nation. Acknowledging the
    existence of legal and administrative problems, Mr. Oskanian stressed
    the importance of introducing simplified procedures for administering
    the dual citizenship arrangement for Diasporan Armenians. He also
    mentioned that dual citizenship may be viewed as a mechanism for
    addressing Armenia's growing demographic imbalances.

    The Minister of Justice, Davit Harutyunyan, who chaired the first panel
    session entitled "Legal Aspects Related to Dual Citizenship", touched
    upon the experience of other countries in dealing with issues related
    to dual citizenship and pointed out that this issue is currently on
    the agenda for debate in the National Assembly of the Republic of
    Armenia. Mr. Harutyunyan also highlighted the government's desire to
    see a Law on Dual Citizenship passed before the end of 2006.

    In his keynote luncheon speech Peter Spiro, Professor of International
    Law at the University of Georgia, presented the experience of the
    US and other countries with regard to dual citizenship arrangements
    stating that "dual citizenship is an increasingly commonplace incident
    of globalization, and in approximately thirty years will be universally
    accepted." He stressed that if the experience of other countries is
    of any guidance, a liberal process of acquisition of dual citizenship
    is likely to provide the states with a valuable asset.

    Other presentations and discussions on the first day focused on the
    international experiences with, and economic and social aspects of,
    dual citizenship. This was followed by a roundtable on individual
    country experiences with regularizing Diaspora-homeland relations
    chaired by David Gregorian, Co-chair of AIPRG, featuring Reena
    Pandey, India's ambassador in Armenia; Ioannis Kiparissidis, the
    General Director of the General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad; Patrick
    O`Sullivan, Irish Diaspora Research Unit of the University of Bradford;
    and Raffy Semerdjian of Saint Josef University in Lebanon. The final
    session of Day 1 discussed the labor market and general developmental
    implications of repatriation and was chaired by Deputy Minister of
    Finance David Avetisyan.

    The second day of the conference featured panels dealing with
    the socio-cultural aspects of integrating Diaspora Armenians into
    the socio-political and culture fabric of Armenia, as well as the
    examination of cases of repatriation both in the 1940s and during
    the third Armenian Republic. The panel's chair, Professor Aharon
    Adibekyan, provided a balanced opening statement on cons and pros of
    dual citizenship for Armenia.

    Following the first panel, three alternative proposals on dual
    citizenship arrangement for Armenia were presented by Gevorg
    Malkhasyan, First Deputy Minister of Justice; Hrair Karapetyan, Head
    of the Parliamentary Faction of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
    in the National Assembly; and David Grigorian. Presentations focused on
    the differences in their treatment of issues related to voting rights,
    military service, and taxation issues pertaining to dual citizens.

    In his presentation, Grigorian stressed that the Affiliate Citizenship
    status proposed by AIPRG aims at addressing historical injustice, by
    providing Armenians around the world with a formal link to the country
    of their ancestors, and creating opportunities for repatriation and,
    through that, enhancing Armenia's economic potential and strengthening
    national security. The proposal offers flexible and easy-to-implement
    mechanisms of achieving these objectives without causing any undue
    legal difficulties with countries hosting Diaspora Armenians that
    prohibit dual citizenship.

    These three proposals were subsequently discussed by a panel of legal
    experts. Peter Spiro, Henk Van Goethem, a Legal Adviser at UNHCR's
    Department of International Protection Services, and Vardan Poghosyan,
    Director of "Democracy" Center of Political and Legal Studies, placed
    the existing proposals in the context of the international legal
    norms while acknowledging the specifics of Armenia and its Diaspora.

    Professor Andranik Migranyan of the Moscow Institute of International
    Relations, the keynote luncheon speaker of Day 2, expressed his belief
    that dual citizenship in Armenia would help import new values of civic
    engagement and facilitate the transformation of state-civil society
    relations in Armenia. In his opinion, the right to vote should be
    granted without tying it to residency requirement. He also highlighted
    the problem of approximately 500,000 Armenians who "illegally" (from
    Armenian legislation's point of view) hold citizenships in both Russia
    and Armenia.

    The conference concluded with an open discussion and brainstorming
    session moderated by Dr. Anna Ohanyan of Stonehill College in
    Massachusetts, also an AIPRG Fellow. The open forum touched upon the
    issues related to the possible ramifications of dual citizenship
    in both Armenia and the Diaspora. During this session a research
    agenda was set up, with the aim of clarifying the demand for dual
    citizenship among the members of the Diaspora and quantifying potential
    implications of dual citizenship for Armenia. A wide array of views was
    expressed from those seeing dual citizenship as an absolute necessity
    for Armenia and the Diaspora to those questioning the need for any
    type of new citizenship arrangement.

    Overall, the conference managed to achieve its goal of initiating a
    professional public debate on the issue of dual citizenship ahead of
    the deliberations in the parliament. It succeeded in bringing together
    a broad spectrum of stakeholders to discuss the issues relevant for
    dual citizenship, including its impact on Armenia and the Diaspora,
    and to subject the existing proposals of dual citizenship to public
    scrutiny. All materials regarding the conference, including the
    proposed concepts, are available through the AIPRG website at:
    www.armpolicyresearch.org.

    * * *

    AIPRG is a non-partisan, non-political association that researches
    and encourages the dissemination of discussion of public policy
    issues in Armenia and the Diaspora. AIPRG aims to consolidate the
    existing Armenia related expertise around the world by bringing
    together accomplished researchers and practitioners of economics,
    political science, law, and governmental affairs. By way of research
    and conferences, AIPRG collaborates with Development Agencies,
    International Financial Institutions, the donor community, individual
    researchers, and policy practitioners in order to achieve a greater
    understanding of the development issues related to Armenia and the
    Diaspora. Registered as a 501(c)3 corporation in Washington, AIPRG has
    an office in Yerevan and unites over 40 Fellows from around the world.

    ##################

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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