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A new breakthrough on statelessness in Kazakhstan

A working inter-ministerial group on statelessness, initiated by UNHCR and the Ministry of Internal Affairs met in the end of October 2013 and made a cornerstone decision on further progress on reduction and prevention of statelessness in the country.

In the meeting, headed by the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, with participation of representatives of the General Prosecutor's Office, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, National Security Committee, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economics and Budget Planning and Ministry of Justice, authorities, participants reviewed the recommendations of the Special Report "On the situation concerning the rights of oralmans, stateless persons and refugees in the Republic of Kazakhstan". As a result of the meeting, concrete measures were considered to prevent and reduce statelessness in Kazakhstan, including steps to allow amnesty for undocumented persons who register and who would otherwise face administrative charges; a country wide information campaign to alert the public to the possibility of regularising their situation and a general registration.

"UNHCR considers the meeting as a breakthrough in the direction of prevention and reduction of statelessness. UNHCR supports the idea of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to conduct a country-wide registration campaign and to revise national legislation, and suggests adopting an Amnesty Law in order to encourage people to come forward to the proposed registration campaign . The Government must ensure protection of undocumented persons and provide durable solutions to those who would come and register. UNHCR stands ready to help by all means. Moreover, during 2013, UNHCR worked hard with the Ministry of Internal Affairs to develop the database that would be used for this registration." - underlined Mr. Saber Azam, UNHCR Regional Representative/Regional Coordinator for Central Asia during the meeting.

According to government data, the number of officially registered stateless persons in the country is around 7,000 people. However, there are also an undetermined number of undocumented stateless or potentially persons. They are deprived of the basic right of having a defined and recognized nationality. They may not have access to education, health care, job market and ability to travel. They also cannot register their civil law relations such as birth, death, and marriage. Children with undetermined nationality may not attend school or benefit from proper care. On the territory of the former USSR, they are usually holders of old Soviet passports, who did not claim their nationality on time for various reasons after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"UNHCR strongly recommends that the Government of Kazakhstan considers all consequences of the upcoming registration campaign and therefore it should develop a post-registration strategy in order to find legal solutions for all who will be approaching the competent authorities in order to ensure their protection from penalization and deportation" - noted Mr. Azam.