Armenia Reports Decrease in Asylum Seekers Following Previous Year's Spike
On April 2, Armen Ghazaryan, the head of the Migration and Citizenship Service of Armenia's Interior Ministry, disclosed that 817 foreigners applied for asylum in Armenia in 2023.
During a session of the parliamentary standing committee on state and legal issues, Ghazaryan provided further context by describing the trajectory of asylum requests in previous years. He noted that in 2020 there were 206 requests, followed by 260 in 2021 and a notable increase to 968 in 2022.
Ghazaryan attributed the sharp rise in asylum seekers over the past two years to the armed conflict [Russia's war] in Ukraine. Despite this trend continuing into 2023, Ghazaryan mentioned a discernible decline in numbers. He added that in previous years, individuals from Middle Eastern countries such as Syria, Iraq, and Egypt typically accounted for a significant portion of asylum applicants.