Press Releases

UNHCR provides technical assistance to the State Registration Service in Kyrgyzstan

Bishkek, 19 May 2015 (UNHCR) - Today the UN Refugee Agency in Kyrgyzstan (UNHCR) donated some IT equipment to State Registration Service to enhance the capacity of its Call Centre set up for the eradication of Statelessness. The special phone equipment, server and a database will support and strengthen the work of the Centre, which receives up to 300 weekly calls from different parts of the country.
The Call Centre provides information about how to practically resolve stateless-like situations and basic consultations to its beneficiaries. It is the first contact to ensure that people are not left undocumented or prevented from becoming stateless.

“Absence of necessary identity documents makes people, both men and women, economically, legally, and socially vulnerable, and restricts their access to education, social and health services, and often sources of income. Elderly people cannot receive pensions,” SRS Chariperson Alina Shaikova said.  

The project includes multi-functional teams with registration authorities and lawyers to go around the villages to legalize and document stateless individuals. The Republic of Kyrgyzstan has now become a world leading example in practically resolving the problems of statelessness. 

“Today’s hand-over of IT equipment may be modest but it signifies the great practical advancement that Kyrgyz government has made in the areas of prevention and eradication of Statelessness,” UNHCR’s Representative Maki Shinohara said. 

“We are making an excellent progress in the Provinces, and soon we shall face the biggest challenge to implement the Statelessness campaign in the urban Bishkek city. I am confident that with strengthened collaboration with the State Registration Service and other partners, we can make statelessness phenomenon history in this country.”  
In June 2014, UNHCR jointly with the State Registration Service has launched the “Seeds for Solutions” project within the framework of UNHCR’s Global Campaign to End Statelessness Worldwide, aiming to resolve existing cases of statelessness in the country through registration and documentation of stateless persons and those at heightened risk of statelessness. Around 7,000 persons have been identified, more than half of the 6000 applications have been resolved in Osh, Jalal-Abad and Chuy provinces. Since March 2015, mobile multifunctional teams that include registration authorities and lawyers began to cover Batken, Talas and Chuy provinces. The campaign is scheduled to complete next year after covering Naryn and Issyk-Kul provinces.