On 5 September, a charter flight from Germany was organized in order to deport more than 40 Armenian citizens back to their country of origins, reported arka.am. This is the second organized charter flight from Germany this year.

Among the deported people are those who came to Germany for medical treatment and some said that their medical treatment remained incomplete due to the unexpected expulsion. The Armenian citizens also complained that there had not been any response from their Embassy in Germany.

Nelli Davtyan, spokesperson of the Armenian migration service explained the reasoning behind the deportations. “The [decision is based on the] political changes that occurred in Armenia last year, that is, the ‘velvet revolution.’ After that, Armenia [was] considered a safe country.  In addition, many Armenian citizens who had refugee status and who seemed to be living in Germany or another EU country [stated they] did not know that their status was reviewed every three years. Often this status is cancelled and people are sent back… [because] the reasons why the status was granted in the past [is] considered [no longer correct],” she said. 

As for Armenians who go to Germany for medical treatment, only those who are feared to die without completing medical treatment have their cases reviewed. “In such cases, the Migration Service sends motions to the Ministry of Health, so we are now trying to get the procedures under way [on a case by case basis] until we obtain the general category to decide on future measures,” she added. With many of the deported Armenians facing stress upon their return, the Migration Service has now opened a special support centre to elaborate an emergency assistance program in aid to those people.

The readmission agreement between Armenia and the EU entered into force on 1 January 2014. In the first quarter of 2019, the Armenian migration service received 1,030 inquiries regarding their status and return of 2,045 citizens. 83% of the requests were approved.