Only 7,402 displaced Artsakh residents obtain Armenian citizenship

PanARMENIAN.Net - As of March 28, 2025, only 7,402 forcibly displaced residents from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) have received Armenian citizenship, according to the Migration Service of Armenia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. In total, 8,437 people have applied during the past year and a half, reports Pastinfo.

Despite being displaced en masse following Azerbaijan’s large-scale military attack on September 19, 2023, the overwhelming majority of Artsakh Armenians have not submitted applications for new Armenian passports. Many still consider themselves Armenian citizens by default and see their previous documents—issued in Artsakh—as symbols of their identity and legal ties to their homeland. They perceive surrendering those documents as relinquishing their claim to Artsakh.

Azerbaijan’s offensive led to the disarmament of Artsakh’s Defense Army and the self-dissolution of its government. The forced displacement began on September 24, 2023, and more than 100,000 people fled to Armenia. By some estimates, fewer than 20 Armenians remain in Artsakh. On September 28, 2023, Artsakh President Samvel Shahramanyan signed a decree formally dissolving the republic, effective January 1, 2024.