Press Releases

UNHCR supports the Kyrgyz Republic to reduce number of stateless people

Bishkek, 14 June 2012 - Today the State Registration Service (SRS) of the Kyrgyz Republic organized a ceremony to hand over passports of Kyrgyz citizenship to 23 former stateless persons in Alamedinsky district of Chui province.

UNHCR supports the Kyrgyz Government in reducing statelessness through providing technical assistance for processing applications of stateless persons and refugees for citizenship. Over this year the joint project plans to grant some 7,000 people with Kyrgyz citizenship. New citizens will have access to education, health care, legal employment, property ownership, political participation and have equal rights with other citizens.

UNHCR Representative in the Kyrgyz Republic, Johann Siffointe, congratulated the new citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic. "Everyone is entitled to have a citizenship and not to remain in limbo. I am very happy for today's beneficiaries and encouraged by the Kyrgyzstan authorities to tackle this important human rights issue. Much more remains to be done, but these are very positive steps in the right direction" said Siffointe.

According to recent research funded by UNHCR, Alamedinsky district is one of the districts within Chui province with the largest number of stateless persons. The twenty new Kyrgyz citizens have always lived in Kyrgyzstan though were previously holders of soviet passports, and as such were categorized as stateless people without the same rights as legitimate citizens.
In addition to the UNHCR Representative, the Director of Department of Population Registration within SRS, Mr. D. Satybaldiev, and other high level officials participated in the official ceremony.