Repatriation of Armenians awaits further funding

Further efforts to repatriate Armenians living in Turkmenistan will require additional donor assistance to proceed, an official from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Friday. "At this point, IOM Ashgabat has no more funding available for this return assistance project, [but] will continue approaching various potential donors that might be willing to support it," Zoran Milovic, head of the IOM told IRIN from the Turkmen capital, Ashgabad. His comments came less than a week after IOM successfully facilitated the return of 92 irregular Armenian immigrants back to their homeland, 32 of them under the age of 18. The group boarded a chartered plane on Sunday for the Armenian capital, Yerevan. Most cases returned to the Yerevan region, while a considerable number went to the Sisian and Goris regions of the impoverished nation, with a large number of individual cases to destinations across Armenia. As part of the repatriation package, adult returnees were provided with a monetary integration grant of US $100 and US $50 per child, as well as travel assistance. Sunday's repatriation was the second caseload of returnees to the southern Caucasus state after IOM assisted over 100 Armenians to return to their homeland in late 2002 and early 2003, following a US $57,000 donation by the Norwegian government. According to the IOM, there are between 35,000 and 40,000 Armenians in Turkmenistan today, the vast majority of them Turkmen citizens. Most live in the capital, with sizable groups living in the Caspian port city of Turkmenbasi, the western city of Balkanabat, the central city of Mary, as well as smaller numbers in and around the eastern border town of Turkmenabat. But it is those Armenians without Turkmen citizenship who face the greatest challenges. Without confirmed residency, those living in the country without legal status cannot send their children to school, get employment, or even travel within the country without problems. Indeed, most returnees on Sunday had cited lack of documentation and their irregular status in the largely desert nation as the primary factors for their return, Milovic maintained. During the 1990s, energy-rich Turkmenistan got its share of refugees fleeing the civil war in Tajikistan, as well as from wars and conflicts in the Caucasus and in Afghanistan. At that time, a considerable number of Armenians came across the Caspian from Azerbaijan and Armenia, where they were assisted by the Turkmen government, as well as by the already established Armenian community in the country. Today, however, a large number - possibly thousands - of Armenian nationals residing in the Central Asian nation are irregular - and from Ashgabat's point of view illegal - as they either never properly registered in the country or formally overstayed their entry visas, usually for years. And while initially such behavior was tolerated, in recent years the Armenian Embassy in Ashgabat has seen an increased number of cases referred to them by the Turkmen authorities, or individuals/families that called the embassy asking for return assistance. Given their irregular status, according to the IOM, many of them had ended up being detained, fined and ordered to leave the country. The fines were levied on the basis of the number of months they overstayed their visas, often far beyond the financial means of either the migrants themselves or their families and friends in Armenia. At the same time, the Armenian Embassy was often asked to help with transportation arrangements for these people. And if the embassy could confirm that the people would leave for Armenia, those who were detained were released and would usually leave the country within days. In June 2001, IOM Ashgabat was approached by the Armenian Embassy and regional representatives of the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, requesting support in providing assistance for an orderly and humane return process to Armenia for those stranded Armenians - including seeking funding for reintegration assistance. The Armenian Embassy itself assisted in 1999 and 2000 some 200 Armenian nationals to return from Turkmenistan, but due to financial constraints was not able to continue the programme. Initially IOM efforts to secure donor funding for the entire project, assisting up to 500 returnees, was not successful, until the Norwegian donation in May 2002, enough for a pilot phase to assist 120 people. Within the framework of a pilot project, during late 2002 and early 2003 IOM returned 114 irregular Armenian migrants to their homes, made possible through funding from Oslo, whose representatives initially expressed willingness to consider additional financial assistance. According to Milovic, although there had been no information campaign to promote the return effort, already since Sunday there had been a number of inquires at the Armenian Embassy as to whether the return programme would continue, demonstrating a desire by still more Armenians to return as well. "At this point, we are telling them to be patient as we seek to identify another donor wishing to assist," he said, noting: "I'm sure by the summer we will have another 100 people willing to return."