15,000 people renounce Armenian citizenship in five years

The declining economic indicators, high unemployment and poverty rates, huge state debt, as well as dozens of other problems are the realities of today’s Armenia. Therefore, it is no wonder that the outflow of people from the country is increasing year by year.

The Passport and Visa Department of the Armenian Police has recently told News.am that the number of people who renounced Armenian citizenship has increased dramatically in recent years.

The data from the department shows that as many as 3,823 citizens of the country filed applications for renunciation of Armenian citizenship in 2017.

Only 968 applications were made in 2012, while their number was 1,461 in 2013, 2,407 in 2014, 2,487 in 2015, and 3,863 in 2016. That is, since the elections in 2012, when the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) came to power, and until today, more than 15,000 Armenian citizens renounced their citizenship.

MP from the RPA, former Chief of Armenian Police Alik Sargsyan believes that this is a serious indicator and that the government should recognize this as the number one problem for the country. He also does not exclude that a significant part of Armenians refused citizenship in order to avoid military service.

“This is a very large figure for our country. Everyone has their own reason to leave the country,” said the former head of police, adding that most likely, people do this because of social reasons, since they hope to find a wellpaid job abroad, which will allow them to achieve some kind of success.

Of course, this is one of the major reasons why people leave Armenia. Unemployment, with the rate of more than 18 percent, is among the most serious problems of the country, but the authorities turn a blind eye to it.

Moreover, the data from the National Statistical Service of Armenia shows that the prices of products are regularly increasing in the country, and this further aggravates the situation of poor people, who account for a third of Armenia’s population. Last year, prices for vegetables increased by an average of 8.2 percent. In addition, the prices of dairy products, cheese and eggs rose by 7 percent, while the price of meat products went up by 11 percent and of fish by 24.8 percent. Furthermore, the prices for gasoline, gas and diesel fuel in Armenia also rose starting from the first days of 2018.

In a nutshell, the Armenian government, seeing that thousands of their compatriots leave the country every year, not only does not try to stop this exodus, but, on the contrary, adds fuel to the fire by deteriorating the social situation in Armenia. If it continues at this pace, the country may turn into a complete "desert" in the foreseeable future.