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Turkmen delegation at the Global Forum on Statelessness underlined achievements of the country

Delegation of Turkmenistan, represented by the Chairperson of the State Migration Service, took part in First Global Forum on Statelessness. It brought together representatives of 70 governments, UN agencies, NGOs, academies, media and stateless persons to discuss the phenomenon and search for solutions. For eradication of statelessness, as the Turkmen delegate underlined, the most important factor is political will. Starting from 2004, Turkmenistan was showing great political will, granting citizenship to over 18,000 stateless persons and refugees. These people became stateless as a result of State succession in the post-Soviet period, as with many others on the territory of the former USSR. For decades these people were limited or fully deprived of realizing their basic human rights, such as the ability to travel, access education or health care services, and register their marriages and birth of their children.

But this political will has changed the lives of thousands of people in Turkmenistan. The process started with a registration campaign, conducted in 2004. The second registration campaign, conducted in 2011, resulted in the granting of citizenship of Turkmenistan to more than 3,000 stateless persons. In the same year, Turkmenistan reformed its by- laws introducing a statelessness status determination procedure and issuing identity cards and travel documents to stateless persons. In 2014, the Government of Turkmenistan started producing travel documents for stateless persons, which gives them opportunity for increased mobility. Turkmenistan also became the first country in the region which acceded to the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons in 2011, and to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness in 2012. Turkmenistan also made significant process on the rights of stateless children, which was one of the main topics of the Global Forum. Thus, Turkmenistan ensures, through a safeguard in their Citizenship Law, that child born on the territory of the country automatically acquires citizenship of Turkmenistan if otherwise the child would be stateless.

The achievements of the country was also highlighted during the International Conference on Migration and Statelessness, held in Turkmenistan in 2014, during which 786 stateless persons were granted citizenship. In total, from 2004, more than 18,000 stateless persons have been were given an opportunity to work, travel, get an education, and register their marriages and children.

During the concluding remarks of his speech at the Forum, the Head of the Migration Service underlined that "In order to facilitate substantive discussions on the approaches to reducing statelessness, we are ready to provide all the necessary conditions and to share with all stakeholders our experience in this field as well as carrying out the work together with UNHCR and other international organizations, to share the practice of Turkmenistan in granting citizenship to refugees and stateless persons and documenting them". He also said that the Forum was a unique platform for the discussions, bringing together various counterparts, all with the aim of reduction and prevention of statelessness in the world.