citizenship prior to or in the process of their application for another citizenship. This situation is a result of a legislative gap creating a potential risk of statelessness if the subsequent acquisition of another citizenship does not materialize. In addition, there are 1,315 refugees from Azerbaijan, who are simultaneously stateless as of January 2020. They were forcibly displaced from Azerbaijan as a consequence of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between 1988 and 1994 and did not acquire Azerbaijani citizenship following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Progress in addressing statelessness Armenia acceded to the 1954 and 1961 Conventions in 1994. In 2011, during the High-level Meeting in Geneva, the Government of the Republic of Armenia (the Government) committed to revise the national legislation to bring it in accordance with its international obligations. In 2012, UNHCR commissioned a legal research, which identified the main gaps and shortcomings in legislation and practice on nationality and statelessness in Armenia.8 In May 2015, with UNHCR’s technical support, amendments to the Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Armenia (the Law on Citizenship)9 were adopted to bring the national legislation in line with the 1961 Convention and related legal norms governing acquisition and loss of citizenship, in particular: a) guarantee that children born on the territory of Armenia who will otherwise be stateless (including children whose parents’ citizenship is unknown) acquire Armenian citizenship; b) ensure that children lose Armenian citizenship as a result of loss of citizenship by parents, guardians or as a result of adoption only if they possess or acquire another citizenship; c) ensure that citizenship is lost as per voluntary renunciation only when there is an assurance by another State that the person concerned has applied and is eligible to acquire the citizenship of that country;10 d) ensure that persons whose citizenship was withdrawn as a result of voluntary renunciation may have it automatically reinstated upon their request; e) provide for the possibility for legally incapacitated persons to file naturalization applications via their legal guardian; f) provide for facilitated naturalization of refugees and stateless persons waiving the requirements of three-year legal residence and demonstration of Armenian language skills; and g) provide for a five-year time limitation following which a person may not be deprived of citizenship based on the fact that it was acquired based on false data/documents. In addition, on 6 December 2017, in the context of mixed marriages (one parent is a citizen of Armenia and the other a foreigner), further amendments to the Law on Citizenship were adopted to provide that consent of only one parent is needed for a child to obtain Armenian citizenship if he/she resides in Armenia. Previously, both parents had to provide their consent for the child to become an Armenian citizen and it created difficulties in practice and in some cases was contrary to the best interest of the child. In October 2019, the Government delivered concrete pledges at the High-Level Segment on Statelessness, notably to close existing gaps in national legislation on citizenship that may cause statelessness and to establish legal grounds for decreasing the number of stateless persons in the country.11 8 UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Questions of Nationality and Statelessness in Armenia, March 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/54817cb44.html. 9 Armenia: Law of 1995 on Citizenship of the Republic of Armenia [Armenia], November 1995, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/51b770884.html. 10 Although it was expected that this legislative amendment would ensure voluntary renunciation in accordance with safeguards defined by the 1961 Convention, in practice, it proved to be insufficient to address cases when another citizenship has not been granted (see renunciation issue below). 11 UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), High-Level Segment on Statelessness: Results and Highlights, May 2020, page 48, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5ec3e91b4.html: By 2020, to conduct a comprehensive study on the status of stateless persons in order to reveal the gaps in the sphere, to map issues and make suggestions on addressing the main challenges of the field. By 2020, to further amend the provisions of the national legislation on Citizenship that may cause statelessness (i.e. pursuing the legislative initiative to amend the citizenship law for putting safeguards during renunciation process). By 2024, to review the national legislation on citizenship to establish legal grounds for decreasing the number of stateless persons and ensure proper mechanisms for guaranteeing the exercise of their rights. 2