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Civil Society helps to end statelessness in Central Asia

November 5, 2015, Almaty, KAZAKHSTAN - Today an NGO Civil society retreat: Ending statelessness in Central Asia is held in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Participants, the leading NGO organizations from Central Asia, are meeting with the aim to establish a regional network of NGOs to jointly address the issue of prevention and reduction of statelessness in the region. This retreat also marks the first anniversary of the UNHCR’s #IBELONG Campaign to End Statelessness by 2024, which was launched last year on November 4, 2014.

Statelessness is a profound violation of individual’s human rights, affecting at least 10 million people worldwide.There are around 120,000 stateless persons in Central Asia, including Kazakhstan hosting 7,000 officially registered stateless persons. There are more than 13 000 stateless persons in Kyrgyzstan, more than 10 000 in Tajikistan, and around      7 000 in Turkmenistan (as of July 1, 2015).

The majority of them became stateless mainly due to dissolution of the Soviet Union. These people have limited or no enjoyment of basic human rights, such as education, health care, employment, birth registration, identity documentation and freedom of movement. They are often unable to do basic things like buy or sell property, or open bank accounts.

UNHCR launched the campaign to sensitize governments, civil society and the media on the necessity to end statelessness. Over 56,000 people have signed the Open Letter to End Statelessness, among them numerous high profile supporters and dignitaries. UNHCR always pays special attention to the civil society, which plays an important role in the prevention and reduction of statelessness. It can ensure political will for nationality law reform, in providing legal advice and assistance to help stateless persons resolve their situation, identify the causes of statelessness and generate public awareness on the importance of ending statelessness.

“Central Asia represents a unique opportunity when it comes to the statelessness issue, because there is a great willingness among the governments in the region to solve these problems.  Also the problem is manageable in terms of the numbers and also in terms of resources that these countries have available to help solve these problems. Partnership with the civil society is vital for resolving the issue of statelessness, and I am very optimistic that the region can become the first region in the world to completely eliminate this problem of statelessness” – said Mr. Bernard Doyle, Regional Representative/Regional Coordinator for Central Asia.