subsequent acquisition of another citizenship does not materialize, will be addressed through automatic restoration of Armenian citizenship.14 UNHCR recommends adopting amendments to the Law on Citizenship to effectively resolve the issue of a growing number of persons at risk of statelessness due to renunciation of Armenian citizenship prior to obtaining another one and to introduce automatic reacquisition of Armenian citizenship in case of failure to obtain another one. Refugees from Azerbaijan, who are stateless persons, used to be able to acquire Armenian citizenship through a simplified procedure under Article 10(2) of the Citizenship Law of the Republic of Armenia.15 However, since January 2020 the deadline for application of this article has not been extended. Thus, at present, these refugees are no longer able to acquire Armenian citizenship through the simplified procedure. In addition, some refugees in this group are still reluctant to acquire Armenian citizenship primarily due to personal considerations (for example: military service or loss of benefits related to their refugee status). UNHCR recommends the Government to extend the simplified procedure until the issue with documentation of former USSR citizens is successfully resolved and further facilitate the procedure for non-ethnic Armenians, who have strong ties in Armenia and reside on its territory since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Furthermore, UNHCR recommends to analyze the existing obstacles/reasons of refugees from Azerbaijan for non-acquisition of Armenian citizenship, to further facilitate naturalization procedures and to adjust social protection programmes to address the obstacles to naturalization. While stateless persons are documented with a Non-citizenship Certificate, the document does not meet international standards (no indication that the holder is a stateless person under the terms of the 1954 Convention; state fee is higher than in case of the national passport) and the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) requirements (no biometric data). The Government remains committed to provide stateless persons with an internationally compliant document, but the delay with implementation is caused by pending legislative amendments and technical and financial difficulties. UNHCR recommends and is ready to support the Government with introduction of an ICAO compatible Convention Travel Document for stateless persons. Challenges with identification of undocumented persons and those at risk of statelessness were discovered through a small-scale project implemented by UNHCR’s partner the Mission Armenia.16 The absence of systematic and effective public awareness activities hinders identification, prevention and reduction of statelessness. It is important to consider that relevant state agencies (police, local municipalities, civil registry office) would lead regular public campaigns focused on identification of the population at risk of statelessness, importance of timely documentation of the population, raising awareness about stateless persons and their rights and freedoms, and fostering their effective documentation and integration. UNHCR recommends and stands ready to support the Government with establishment of systematic and effective public awareness activities, which assist with identification of undocumented, at risk of statelessness and stateless persons, promote understanding of the situation of stateless persons, inform stateless persons of their rights and freedoms, and foster their documentation and integration. The project implemented by Mission Armenia revealed gaps and shortcomings with effective and efficient documentation of the population, such as: (i) the lack of systematic identification, referral and documentation of undocumented persons; (ii) the absence of 14 UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Guidelines on Statelessness No. 5: Loss and Deprivation of Nationality under Articles 5-9 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, May 2020, HCR/GS/20/05, para 22, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5ec5640c4.html. 15 Ibid 10. 16 Small-scale Project implemented by Mission Armenia, local NGO in November 2018-December 2019 and funded by UNHCR Armenia. 4