I Am Disappointed and Hurt that Armenians are Not Allowed to Enter the Homeland
YEREVAN, ARMENIA – A few days ago, Syune Abrahamyan, a member of the ARF Youth Union of the Netherlands, shared on her Facebook page from Yerevan’s “Zvartnots” airport that she was banned from entering the homeland on the grounds that she was an unwanted person.
Abrahamyan was visiting Armenia to participate in a youth volunteer program.
In a conversation with 168.am, Abrahamyan explained the ban on her entry to because of her political views.
“It is not the first time that I come to Armenia. there are no technical problems, for example, related to the passport. This is clearly political persecution”, said the member of the ARF Youth Union, adding that she did not clearly understand the exact reason for the entry ban.
“At first, when I went to passport control, I thought everything was normal, but in the end the employee asked if I had a problem, I said no. And then, without saying anything, he went and started discussing some things with his colleagues. After 12 hours of waiting, I was told that my entry was barred. I asked why, they didn’t want to tell me anything, because maybe it wasn’t their responsibility to say. I kept asking the border guards: what is going to happen, was something clarified, but they always answered me in the same way: you have to wait, you have to wait.
“And so on, until they said I had been banned. I was only told that I can find out about the reasons for this refusal through the Dutch Embassy in Armenia”, stated Abrahamyan.
Abrahamyan states that she has visited Armenia 8-9 times, the last time in the summer of 2021 and always entered without a problem. “I have never had a problem entering the homeland and I never expected it to come to this moment in my life. I am very disappointed and very hurt that Armenians are not allowed to enter the homeland,” she said.
Note: On the evening of July 13, Mourad Papazian, chairman of the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations of France (CCAF), and member of the ARF Bureau, was banned from entering Armenia. “I will demand to restore my right to return to Armenia, Armenia is not Nikol Pashinyan’s property,” stated Papazian about the ban..
Nikol Pashinyan’s staff explained why Papazian was banned from entering the homeland. “This person is one of the persons who organized an attack against the convoy of the government delegation led by the Prime Minister near the RA Embassy in France on June 1 last year. Various things and objects were thrown in the direction of the convoy. Pashinyan’s car carrying the RA state flag was attacked and the situation was overcome only as a result of the efforts of the French police and security forces. The data proving this was published by various media, and the videos are also available on the Internet. Not only the person mentioned by you, but also the active participants of the attack have been banned from entering the Republic of Armenia. Moreover, the Republic of Armenia does not have any reservations towards any participant of peaceful actions.
