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Addressing statelessness in Kyrgyzstan restores basic rights to over 7,000 People

Kyrgyz Republic is making significant steps to eradicate statelessness and prevent future cases from occurring. Since 2014, a joint program between UNHCR, Kyrgyz Government and NGO partners to address statelessness has registered nearly 11,000 persons, of whom 9,500 filed for applications and over 7,000 persons have already received documentation or citizenship.

Mr. Sergey Manokhin was among them.  Born in Kyrgyzstan, Sergey received his Soviet passport in 1988.  But while he was serving in the army in another Soviet Republic, the Soviet Union collapsed.  As he returned to Kyrgyzstan, he was unable to confirm Kyrgyz citizenship and could not obtain any identification document. Sergey continued to live in Kyrgyzstan for more than 20 years without having access to social services and supporting himself by taking on ad hoc work on the market or construction sites.  According to him, life was like being caught in a never-ending vicious cycle. 

“I read about the project in the newspaper.  I immediately started collecting documents to apply for citizenship. I had tried several times in the past to apply for Kyrgyz citizenship, but faced too many difficulties and gave up,” Sergey Manokhin said. “This project changed my life. I want people to know that it is possible to receive citizenship and one should never lose hope to become a full member of a society. Now, with my passport, I applied for pension and I am going to officially register my marriage after 20 years.”   

UNHCR, jointly with government agencies and NGOs, launched a pilot project in June 2014, aimed at identification and registration of stateless persons and those with undetermined nationality. Over the two years, fifty-seven mobile multifunctional teams were created, each comprising of an NGO-hired lawyer, a local governance official, and passport desk officers. The teams travelled throughout five provinces (Chuy, Jalalabad, Osh, Batken and Talas) as well as Bishkek and Osh cities to provide legal aid to beneficiaries and to assist them in filing the forms for citizenship determination or acquisition. The program continues in 2016 to cover the remaining provinces (Issyk Kul and Naryn).

“The outreach program have allowed us also to understand the problem and scope of statelessness in the Kyrgyz Republic.  There are mix marriages, those without birth certificates, those living along the undetermined borders, etc. that point to the need for some changes in the legislation or administrative procedures,” Ms. Maki Shinohara, UNHCR Representative in Kyrgyz Republic, said.  “We are impressed with the government’s determination to resolve the issues of statelessness, and will continue to support the government and the civil society toward prevention of statelessness in the country.”
With the support of UNHCR, Kyrgyz government has developed a National Action Plan (NAP) to reduce and prevent statelessness.  It has also adopted a work plan to resolve the majority of the identified stateless cases in the country, identifying and adopting necessary changes in the legislation to resolve and to prevent statelessness, as well as to facilitate the country’s accession to the 1954 and 1961 Statelessness Conventions.