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Highlights
- Armenia currently counts 115,388 refugees, including 36,000 children, who fled into the country in late September 2023, or were escorted through the Lachin corridor between December 2022 and September 2023, joining 26,700 people displaced since the 2020 conflict. As of December 2024, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports reported 16,232 refugee children enrolled in schools and 1,617 in vocational education. While there is no publicly available data, concerns persist about children who may be out of school, particularly among adolescents.
- 9,543 children were assessed by mobile pediatric teams, 2,594 child patients were referred to higher-level health services, including psychosocial support. 5,886 caregivers received age-specific counseling on health and nutrition-related childcare practices.
- 37,453 children and their caregivers accessed safe spaces and child protection hubs. 34,712 children, adolescents and caregivers benefitted from mental health and psychosocial support in communities. 6,701 children received case management support and social workers facilitated access to essential services for more than 1,000 refugee families.
- 20,036 children accessed educational services, including early childhood education, remedial education classes and psychosocial support at school. 9,825 girls and boys received learning materials.
- 11,335 households, representing all refugee children under ten years of age benefitted from UNICEF-supported multipurpose ecards, vouchers for clothing and pharmacy cards. Among these households, also all refugee pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers (506 and 1,507 respectively) received vouchers to address healthcare and nutritional needs.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
As of the end of 2024, the Migration and Citizenship Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reports 115,388 registered refugees, including an estimated 36,0003 children, who fled to Armenia following the escalation of hostilities in late September 2023 or were escorted through the Lachin corridor between December 2022 and September 2023. They joined around 26,7004 people who have been displaced since the 2020 conflict. On 26 October 2023, a government decree5 granted temporary protection for the refugee population for the duration of a year and extended temporary protection on 17 October 2024, until 31 December 2025. To date, 109,687 temporary protection certificates have been granted, and 5,812 individuals (5 per cent of the refugee population) have applied for Armenian citizenship. Nearly 76 per cent of the refugee population is living in Yerevan (46,512 refugees or 40.3 per cent) and surrounding regions (Kotayk 18,622 refugees or 16.1 per cent; Ararat 11,986 or 10.4 per cent and Armavir 10,970 or 9.5 per cent). Figure 1 below depicts the geographic distribution of refugees in Armenia.
According to the Multi-Sector Needs Assessment (MSNA) conducted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MLSA) with the support of UNICEF, refugee families live in better conditions in Yerevan than in rural communities. Families with children are almost twice as likely to share houses with other families than those without children. Nevertheless, mobility across and outside the country continues.
A total of 30 children were identified as unaccompanied or separated from the beginning of the arrivals. Over 50 per cent of those coming from residential care institutions have been placed in family-type care. Few children were initially placed in state-run child and family support/crises centres, and later eventually also placed into foster care (only one child remains under state-run institutional care).
The amendment to the Government Decree of 12 October 2023 on supporting living costs and basic needs of refugees was approved on 21 November 2024. Key changes include extension of the period of social assistance by three more months (January–March 2025), and modification of the monthly amount of cash assistance provided, which will be USD125 per person. As of April 2025, cash support will be provided to certain groups of refugees, who are actually living in the Republic of Armenia, as registered by the State Migration Service, primarily targeting persons with disabilities of the first or second groups or persons with deep or severe degree of limitations of functionality, persons aged 63 and above, persons receiving benefits in case of loss of breadwinner and children under 18 years of age. The monthly amount of cash support for each beneficiary will be USD 100 for April–June 2025 and USD 75 for or July–December 2025.
While maintaining the cash assistance programme in 2025, the government intends to resort to more needs-based support to refugee families linked to case management. Immediate priorities also include winterization support, as well as using cash and voucher type interventions for livelihood programmes or soft skills trainings.
Most (93 per cent) MSNA respondents indicated cash as a preferred modality for receiving support. Following the recent amendments to the Law on State Benefits and State Pensions, refugees can avail pensions and social benefits, though there are issues in fully accessing some of the benefits related to registration challenges, regulations, and lack of proper awareness.
To address rising concerns over the efficiency of the housing programme for refugees introduced in May-June 2024, the Government has initiated amendments and circulated them for public discussion. While naturalization still remains a pre-condition for availing state housing support, limitations were lifted for the size of the land for house construction, and minimum requirements for living space per person were decreased.
As of end of December 2024, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia reported 16,232 refugee children enrolled in schools and 1,617 high school-aged children in vocational education. While there is no publicly available data on the total number of school-aged refugee children, concerns persist about those who may be out of school, particularly among adolescents. The Concluding Observations on the combined fifth and sixth periodic reports of Armenia to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC) welcomed the efforts made by the Government of Armenia including the initiation of the project on inclusion of refugee children in the educational process by enhancing their resilience. However, the Committee remained concerned about the deteriorating levels of school enrolment and attendance, especially in upper secondary education of refugee children and reduced learning outcomes such as the lack of minimum proficiency in reading faced by some children at the end of primary school.” 42 per cent of refugee households with children of preschool age participating in the MSNA reported they have a child who does not attend kindergarten, half of whom have never attended kindergarten. The risk of school dropout especially among refugee adolescents is of concern due to several factors, including the difference in mandatory years of schooling. UNICEF’s ongoing engagement with partners and their social workers and psychologists continues to reveal that the need for MHPSS is high and requires solid investment through a variety of approaches and channels. According to the MSNA, 26 per cent of all surveyed households had at least one household member in an emotionally unstable state. Lack of information, financial problems, mobility difficulties and lack of relevant services in the community are cited as reasons for not seeking help on this issue. The Concluding Observations of the UN CRC also highlight the importance of service continuity to address mental health challenges among children, especially refugee children, by increasing the availability and quality of psychological and psychiatric services, including post-traumatic therapies close to homes.