General information about illegal migration

The right to freedom of movement is a fundamental human right.

 Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted in 1948 states that “Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.” The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950 specifies the scope of exercising this right. It states that “everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory, have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence”, and sets the grounds for restricting the right to freedom of movement.   

It should be noted that the freedom of movement does not include an absolute and universal right to enter any country of choice though this is exactly the missing element of the right to freedom of movement that people often want to have. Moreover, the existing international norms stipulate that issuing an entry permit to the foreigner is a sovereign right of the country and the foreigners who enter or reside in the country concerned by breaking the rules set forth by its legislation are considered illegal migrants.

Illegal migrant is a person who entered the country illegally (entry without documents required by law, use of forged documents, entry into the country circumventing border crossing points, etc.) or entered the country legally but stayed longer than the permissible deadline. 

Illegal migrant is not eligible to work. 

How to enter and reside in a foreign country legally?

It is possible on one of the following grounds: 

Family members of a person legally residing in the country can arrive to that country to reside with their relative. The spouse, minor children and parents in the custody are considered as family members.

Education

A person admitted to an educational institution of the given country can enter and reside in that country during studies. However, the entry will be granted only with the evidence that he/she (a third party or foundation) can pay all tuition and living costs.   

Employment

In this case the entry is granted if there is a permit to work in that country and a labor contract with an employer. Usually, this opportunity is given to highly qualified specialists. However, the majority of countries set out rather high entry standards even for them such as appropriate education, sufficient work history and experience, excellent knowledge of foreign language, fairly high labor contract salary for the country, etc.    

Asylum seekers

The right to seek and find asylum in other countries is enshrined both in international legal documents (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1951 Geneva Convention on Refugees) and domestic constitutions and laws of several countries. Granting an asylum includes the principle of non-refoulment and the possibility of staying in the country as long as protection is required. In other words, the person reaching the border crossing point of a country and seeking asylum therein shall be granted entry into the country and remain there at least until a negative decision on the application is made. Some countries accept asylum applications from foreigners already illegally residing in the country, who consider this as a good opportunity to legalize their status.  

Thousands of citizens from developing countries, including Armenia are using this option to end up in prosperous western countries. However, it should be taken into account that the asylum is granted to the person, who owing to “well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it. In the case of a person who has more than one nationality, the term “the country of his nationality” shall mean each of the countries of which he is a national, and a person shall not be deemed to be lacking the protection of the country of his nationality if, without any valid reason based on well-founded fear, he has not availed himself of the protection of one of the countries of which he is a national.”

The predominant majority of asylum seekers do not meet the above criteria therefore their presence in the country is viewed as illegal and the issue of return to the country of their nationality is considered. The Western countries had very little knowledge about Armenia and the situation in the country in early 90s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union; however, this situation has currently changed. Armenia is considered as a safe country and its nationals had no grounds to seek protection in other countries.

Due to a large number of asylum seekers the examination of application often takes years and the legislation on asylum gives a chance to appeal the decision to refuse which is also a long process. As a result, during the entire process of examination and review our citizens who seek asylum reside in the country concerned and create an impression that they have settled and live there legally. However, it is a delusion. Eventually, they all return (voluntary or deported) to their country.

More information about the topic is also found on the Facebook page of Migration Service.