Kyrgyzstan

Working environment  

• The State Migration Service continued to require all new asylum-seekers to travel to the capital to lodge their asylum applications in 2015. In an effort to facilitate this process, UNHCR worked with the Government and its implementing partners to simplify procedures for applications lodged in areas outside of Bishkek.  
• The operational context became increasingly conducive to preventing and reducing statelessness in Kyrgyzstan, with the Kyrgyz Government expressing its willingness to consider positive legislative amendments in the areas of civil registration and nationality. State executive agencies also began considering a draft law to accede to the two Statelessness Conventions.
• While State recognized refugees had access to lawful employment, asylum-seekers and refugees recognized by UNHCR were unable to acquire work permits, exposing them to administrative fines and other protection risks.

Population trends    

• At year end, the majority of the 512 refugees and asylum-seekers in Kyrgyzstan were from Afghanistan, with smaller numbers from Syria, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, as well as a few other countries.
• During the course of the year, the number of stateless people dropped from approximately 12,100 to 9,100 individuals as a result of the registration and documentation campaign undertaken jointly by the Government, UNHCR and its implementing partners.

Achievements and impact    

• Through joints efforts carried out by UNHCR, state registration services and NGO partners, over 3,650 individuals were identified and registered as stateless in 2015. Of these individuals, over 3,000 were assisted with nationality documentation and/or acquisition and confirmation of citizenship. In total, some 5,580 persons of concern, including those identified and registered in 2014, received the necessary documentation and/or confirmation of citizenship by year end.
• UNHCR facilitated the inclusion of refugees and asylum-seekers within the existing national health insurance system. 
• UNHCR and partners organized 29 trainings on asylum and statelessness for local border guards, registration service staff and national security officials, with a particular focus on protection-sensitive entry systems.
• In November 2015, a working group chaired by UNHCR adopted a set of proposals to improve a number of nationality-related bylaws. These recommendations were shared with the Government for approval.
• In 2015, UNHCR’s strategy for the sustainable reintegration of former IDPs and returnees in southern Kyrgyzstan was closely linked to the implementation of UNHCR’s peacebuilding project; 53 small-scale peacebuilding initiatives were  implemented in cooperation with local authorities and civil society organizations in order to prioritize and identify solutions for the most pressing problems in all three southern regions of Kyrgyzstan. 
• Four refugees from Afghanistan acquired Kyrgyz citizenship, and eight people from Syria were recognized as refugees in 2015.

Unmet needs

• Additional capacity-building activities and trainings on civil registration and nationality legislation for state officials involved in registration and documentation procedures are required.