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On March 25, within the framework of the 138^th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Ara Babloyan delivered a speech on the theme Strengthening the global regime for migrants and refugees: the need for evidence-based policy solutions which is presented below:

“Dear moderator,

Dear colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen,

First of all, I thank you for the oragnisation of this Assembly,

The issue of the migrants and refugees concerns all of us which is one of the agenda priorities of our countries.

The crises shock the world one after another, and the motivations of migration are diverse. It relates not only to people, who seek dignified job and better living conditions, but also the people, who are obliged to leave their houses for hope of finding security and safety.

It is more painful, when the policy of xenophobia character pursued by the state becomes the cause of this disaster, when intolerance and hatred is sowed among the citizens.

We, Armenians, are well aware of the consequences of such policy. At the beginning of the last century millions of Armenians left their Motherland and found asylum in different countries of the world to be saved from the Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire.

Today, because of the consequence of situation created in the Near East more than 20.000 Armenians from Syria were forced to emigrate and find asylum in Armenia. Our country is the third country in Europe by the correlation of the number of population among the countries accepting Syrian refugees. Numerous events have been undertaken by the Government of Armenia for the provision and integration of the refugees’ living. This is a considerable number for a country having a small number of population, like Armenia which accepted hundreds of thousands of refugees also from Azerbaijan, where the Armenians were subjected to ethnic cleansings at the end of the 20^th century.

The migration is not a geographically limited phenomenon. It is spread of all continents and turns into a tragic situation with universal scales.

It is more painful that this problem refers to the children, the most vulnerable group who are subjected to violence, moral and psychological aggression. First of all, the child’s rights should be ensured: to have family, to live in a healthy and safe environment, to get education.

Dear colleagues,

As the Pope of Rome His Holiness Francis said: “Our shared response may be articulated by four verbs: to welcome, to protect, to promote and to integrate.”

While seeking solutions of the problems related to migration, first of all, it is necessary to touch upon their reasons. The international community should be united in fighting terrorism and in the political settlements to the conflicts.

Moreover, we need programmes providing long-term solutions directed to the development of the vulnerable regions, as well as the strengthening of the migrants’ and refugees’ situation. Well thought and elaborated policy will boost the migrants’ integration in the hosting societies and promote every person’s participation in the development of that country.

Armenia, being part of civilized society, is committed to continue contributing to the strengthening of all-human values and providing stability and security in the world.”