Statement by the Delegation of the Republic of Armenia at the UNTOC Working Group on Smuggling of Migrants

10 October, 2025

Statement by the Delegation of the Republic of Armenia

Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime

Working Group on Smuggling of Migrants
09-10 October 2025

Chair,

At the outset, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to you and the Secretariat for the skillful organization of this session, as well as to the UNODC representatives and panelists for the insightful presentations.

Distinguished delegates,

The prevention and suppression of the smuggling of migrants and related offences remains a strategic and ongoing priority for the Republic of Armenia within the framework of countering organized crime.

Armenia considers well-regulated, rights-based migration system essential for ensuring national security, protecting the rights of all migrants, and enhancing international cooperation and continues its efforts to strengthen migration governance, guided by international standards relating to human rights, national and international security, and the effective management of migration flows.

While the legislative framework of the Republic of Armenia criminalizes key offences related to the smuggling of migrants, the prevention of irregular and illegal migration remains an integral component of Armenia’s migration policy. Preventive and operational measures undertaken by law enforcement authorities—including systematic monitoring and risk analysis of migration flows—contribute to the early detection and disruption of emerging smuggling routes and methodologies.

One frequently identified modus operandi involves the facilitation of irregular migration from Armenia using common methods of the submission of falsified documents or misleading information to obtain entry visas, misrepresentation of travel purposes, and the use of fraudulent employment contracts.

Due to its geographic location, Armenia is also occasionally used as a transit country by nationals of third countries. These movements often involve complex, multi-country routes as transit points.

In response, Armenian law enforcement agencies have adopted a range of proactive measures to disrupt the smuggling of migrants and prevent Armenia from being exploited as a country of origin, transit, or destination for this form of organized crime. These measures include:

Strengthening border control procedures and enhancing the verification of travel documents at official border crossing points;
Conducting analytical assessments to monitor trends and fluctuations in the movement of foreign nationals;
Identifying and investigating travel and tourism agencies suspected of facilitating irregular migration;
Implementing targeted operational-investigative activities against individuals and networks previously convicted of migrant related offences
Detecting cases of unauthorized residence or employment of foreign nationals within the territory of Armenia.

These efforts are supported by close inter-agency cooperation, particularly between the Criminal Police and the Migration and Citizenship Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, ensuring a coordinated, evidence-based approach to combating the smuggling of migrants in line with international best practices and Armenia’s international obligations, including the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air.

Chair,

Smuggling facilitators increasingly use social media platforms to recruit clients, share smuggling routes and services, coordinate logistics and payments as those platforms allow for anonymity, cross-border reach, and real-time communication, which hinders law enforcement detection. Young people, including minors, also be lured into these roles through online job advertisements or social pressure. ICTs facilitate access also to counterfeit document vendors, including through dark web markets and forums.

Online smuggling operations often involve actors and servers located outside the territory and jurisdiction of affected State Party, posing jurisdictional issues. At the same time, cooperation with global tech companies or foreign law enforcement may be slow or restricted by privacy laws.

Given the transnational nature and the technological sophistications driven by the use of ICTs, Armenia calls for strengthening the international cooperation anchored in multilateral frameworks such as those supported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in order to enhance national and regional capacities to detect, investigate, and disrupt ICT-facilitated smuggling operations.

Thank you.

MFA RA
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