UNHCR opened its representation in Kyrgyzstan in 1995 initially to assist the country in protecting over 20,000 refugees who fled from the civil war in Tajikistan. Over the years, the Kyrgyz Republic has locally integrated half of these refugees by granting them citizenship, while another half voluntarily repatriated to Tajikistan.
Kyrgyzstan has a legal and administrative framework for asylum and refugee protection in place. It ratified both the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol in 1996, and established the national Refugee Law in 2002.
Building on the on-going efforts, UNHCR works with partners in Kyrgyzstan to improve refugees’ access to the social and economic rights, including the rights to own a property, to register businesses and to access to the social safety nets on par with the nationals.
In its supervisory role to oversee compliance with the international refugee laws, UNHCR collaborates with and support the border guard authorities and other relevant line ministries to ensure unhindered and non-discriminatory access to asylum and due procedures.
The significant progress has been made in the existing stateless cases in Kyrgyzstan, and it is increasingly important to ensure that robust safeguards are put in place to prevent future statelessness. In this regard, UNHCR, in partnership with UNICEF and close collaboration with the civil society organizations, intends to support the authorities in improving the country’s birth registration legislation and practices to ensure that every child’s birth is documented in line with the international standards. UNHCR also works with partners in Kyrgyzstan to support the legislative changes to ensure adequate safeguards for loss or deprivation of citizenship.
UNHCR continues to play an active role in the inter-agency and inter-ministerial Disaster Response Coordination Unit (DRCU). This includes joint training and seminars on thematic issues related to the best practices and benchmarks for responding to the man-made and natural disasters. UNHCR cooperates with the State Migration Services and with the State Border Services to ensure that pertinent knowledge, awareness, legal and policy frameworks are in place for efficient and effective response to any large-scale international forced displacements.