Naira Galstyan’s 7 year-old son and 4 year-old daughter don’t have birth certificates. The children must soon go to school and kindergarten but without documents they won’t be accepted. This family in need also doesn’t receive any state assistance because of the lack of documentation. In 2002 and 2005, when Naira Galstyan gave birth to her son Erik and daughter Lianna, she had no passport and problems arose when she was discharged from the hospital. The mother says that the hospital administration handed her a piece of paper that the Erebuni and Nubarashen branch of the Civil Status Acts Registry (CSAR) refused to accept. Thus the children’s births were never formally registered.

Naira Galstyan’s passport problem was only resolved in 2008. She then started to work on getting birth certificates for her kids; but to no avail. We traveled the same bureaucratic road as Naira Galstyan and were given the same run around as she was. On every door we knocked we were greeted with the same answer – “We’ve been working this way for years. It’s not our problem.”

Government officials unwillingly to buck protocol

Surprisingly, each government official we spoke to expressed amazement and indignation as to the treatment we received from colleagues in other state agencies. Sadly, none were ready or willing to take the first step towards solving Naira’s “catch-22”. All the while the doctors and nurses, for months on end, would ring their hands and ask, “What do you expect us to do?” Banging her head against a brick wall at every turn, the desperate mother finally turned to the press for assistance. The first thing we did was to go to the Erebuni Medical Center where her two children were born. The mother submitted a request that the files be pulled regarding their birth and that she be provided with an official letter to that effect. Hospital staff told us that they couldn’t issue such a letter. Staff at the hospital’s records division told us, “Go to the polyclinic and bring us a letter regarding their health and that they are alive. Then go to the CSAR and get a letter stating that the kids have no birth certificates. The hospital administration told us the same thing. There was a formal protocol to be respected however irrational it appeared. At the Nor Aresh Polyclinic attached to the Grigor Narekatsi Medical Center, where the children are registered, they told us that before they could issue a copy of their health records the CSAR must submit a request in writing to them. Nor Aresh Polyclinic Deputy Director Tatevik Mousheghyan told us that, “The CSAR must contact me for information regarding the health and well-being of the children. We will issue the necessary statements based on their request. We have to way of knowing if this woman is actually the mother or if she kidnapped them off the street and now wants to get a birth certificate in her name.” What’s amazing is why such a question regarding the true identity of the children’s mother would arise at this late date. For years, the children have been registered and treated at this same polyclinic. Their doctor has never seen the need to raise this question.

You can’t rationalize with government staffers

Our attempts to rationalize with the polyclinic on the matter were useless. We tried to explain that the children’s health records would contain information regarding their parents and other details. Ah…but remember there is protocol to be followed. The Erebuni and Nubarashen CSAR Office also told us that they couldn’t send such a request to the polyclinic without a formal notice certifying the birth of the children. “Do you expect us to believe you just on your say-so; that these kids were born? Bring a document from the place you say they were born and we will send a request based on that to verify the information we need,” said the CSAR staffer. Here the bureaucratic rigmarole comes full circle. An agency demands a notice that it could get if the same agency issues a notice in turn; but it doesn’t.

Ministry of Health promises action

“They did the right thing,” says RoA Health Ministry Press Secretary Rouslana Gevorgyan. “There is a legal protocol that must be respected by medical organizations.” So, we researched the applicable law. Article 21 of the RoA “Law on Civil Status Acts” sets out the procedure for the registration of the birth of children who have turned one year-old or more. “The state registration of the birth of children now one year or older is processed on the basis of a written request by the parents (or one parent) or an interested part when there exists a document by the medical establishment or doctor involved.” If the child is born outside a medical establishment, the law states the following: “In the case where such birth document doesn’t exist, the state registration of the birth of one year-old or older children is processed on the basis of a court issued document to that effect.” Mrs. Gevorgyan promised that, “The Ministry of Health will forward inquiries to the hospital, polyclinic and CSAR to verify what the facts of the case are. This will allow us to choose the most appropriate solution to the issue.” Two days ago Erik turned eight. Unfortunately, he won’t be going to school in September since he has no birth certificate.

P.S. “Hetq” has previously covered the travails of this family in a 2007 article entitled “You Do That to Mock Us”. At the time, the mother had no passport and two of her three children had no birth certificate. Their one room in the dormitory lacked a toilet, bed and even a door. A curtain separated the family from the outside corridor. The kids had no shoes and just the clothes on their back. After the article was published some kind-hearted readers chipped in for a door and some furniture and clothes. Today, Naira takes care of the children on her 30,000 AMD monthly salary (approximately $80).