STATELESSNESS IN THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC: ANALYSIS OF NATIONAL LEGISLATION

Dear Reader,

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms that “Everyone has the right to a nationality. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality”. Yet the stark reality is that many millions of people around the world are denied basic human rights because they are not recognized

as citizens of any State – they are stateless. Stateless people are amongst the most vulnerable segments of society and are at the highest risk of being left behind in sustainable development.

As only states can grant or confirm nationality, their cooperation in preventing and reducing statelessness is crucial. Two universal treaties – both included at the end of this compilation – regulate good practices and international solidarity in this field: the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. With 2021 marking the 60th anniversary of the 1961 Convention, an increasing number of United Nations Member States are becoming party to both conventions, understanding that their universal implementation would put an end to statelessness within a single generation.

This was the goal that the then High Commissioner for Refugees – now Secretary-General of the United Nations – Antonio Guterres proclaimed in 2014 when, together with States, he launched the 10-year global #IBelong Campaign to End Statelessness.

In line with our mandate to identify stateless people and prevent and reduce statelessness – bestowed upon us by the United Nations General Assembly – the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, works with governments, parliaments, authorities, and civil society around the world to identify and protect people without nationality, resolve existing situations of statelessness, and prevent new cases from emerging.

Since 2007, UNHCR and its civil society partners had the honour of supporting the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic in addressing statelessness. A progressive citizenship law adopted in 2007 created new avenues for reducing statelessness and established a simplified naturalization procedure for individuals able to prove a link with the Kyrgyz Republic. Subsequent amendments expanded the criteria, further facilitating the reduction of statelessness.

Following UNHCR-initiated surveys in 2007 and 2008, the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic established an inter-ministerial process to address statelessness, particularly through annual High-Level Steering Meetings and the adoption of a National Action Plan to Prevent and Reduce Statelessness.

Thanks to these efforts, between 2009 and 2012, over 45,000 people were able to replace their old USSR with new Kyrgyz Republic passports, and some 2,000 stateless persons obtained Kyrgyz citizenship. Embracing the 2014 #IBelong campaign, by 2019 the country – supported by UNHCR and its partners – identified and assisted an additional 13,700 stateless people, including over 2,000 children, to secure birth registration or confirm or acquire Kyrgyz nationality.

In 2019, the Kyrgyz Republic became the first country in the world to resolve all known cases of statelessness. Azizbek Ashurov, director of the NGO ‘Ferghana Valley Lawyers Without Borders’, was instrumental in supporting the Government to reach this milestone, and subsequently nominated winner of the 2019 Nansen Refugee Award. Maintaining momentum, at the October 2019 High-Level Segment on Statelessness – which marked the mid-point of the #IBelong campaign – the Kyrgyz Republic made four pledges to address newly discovered cases and prevent a reoccurrence of statelessness:

• By the end of 2020, adopt a regulation for determining the legal status of a stateless person

• By the end of 2020, provide birth registration certificates to children who do not have birth registration

• Align national birth registration legislation with international standards to ensure registration of birth of every child born in the Kyrgyz Republic

• Study the experience of other State parties to the 1954 and 1961 Conventions on Statelessness.

Consistent need to prevent a re-occurrence of statelessness, for example through the implementation of these four pledges, is illustrated by the fact that the number of stateless persons in the Kyrgyz Republic again grew from 10 at the end of 2019, to 200 at the end of 2022.

In 2022, representatives of various authorities of the Kyrgyz Republic visited Georgia to study its experiences on statelessness issues after accession to the two Statelessness Conventions.

In the spring of 2023, the Kyrgyz Republic further aligned its national legislation with international standards by securing universal birth registration of every child, including those born to undocumented or stateless parents who were previously not able to obtain a birth certificate; aligning the definition of a stateless person with provisions of the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons; and by introducing safeguards against statelessness in citizenship renunciation.

With further amendments of national legislation, expected for 2023, the Kyrgyz Republic plans to introduce Statelessness Status Determination Procedures in line with 1954 Convention standards. Once these latest improvements in legislation are implemented, the Kyrgyz Republic will not only have fulfilled its four October 2019 pledges but will also remain well on track to successfully achieve all #IBelong goals by the end of the campaign in 2024.

UNHCR is truly proud of having been allowed to support all these positive developments. As the present publication (the second, updated edition of the first comparative analysis, published in April 2022) shows, very few improvements to legislation and practices would still be required to bring them fully in line with all standards of the two Statelessness Conventions. UNHCR remains committed to supporting the Kyrgyz Republic in maintaining its regional leadership in the reduction and prevention of statelessness by joining a growing number of

States in becoming party to the two Statelessness Conventions.

Allow me to thank all colleagues and experts, translators, and proofreaders, who made it possible to publish this important compilation in Kyrgyz, Russian, and English languages. I am confident that its findings and recommendations will support sustained progress in the reduction and prevention of statelessness, as well as in the protection of stateless persons in the Kyrgyz Republic. UNHCR stands ready to continue supporting the Kyrgyz Republic in accelerating its achievement of the global #IBelong Campaign and Sustainable Development

Goals under Agenda 2030: Leaving No One Behind.

Hans Friedrich Schodder

Representative of the United Nations

High Commissioner for Refugees

May 2023, Astana