From statelessness to citizenship: Successes of Kyrgyzstan
In 2019, Kyrgyzstan became the first country in the world that solved the statelessness issue. The UN recognised the successful example of the republic at the global level. However, the country has some work to do to prevent the repeated occurrence of such cases.
Secret of success
Kyrgyzstan identified and recorded 13,707 stateless persons from 2014 to 2019 by means of household visits, including over 2 thousand children.
According to lawyer Azizbek Ashurov, over 60 mobile teams made of employees of the state body in charge of population registration, lawyers, technical assistants were created then with the support of the UNHCR. The teams received vehicles equipped with hardware so that they could process documents onsite.
Persons turned out to be stateless mainly due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and emergence of new independent states in its territory. The leadership of the countries were faced with a question: which citizens would belong to which states?
Kyrgyzstan also pored over this issue and in 1994, after the law "On citizenship" came into force, recognised all those registered at the time as its citizens. But there were people among the population who were not registered, although they lived actually in Kyrgyzstan. Others, vice versa, resided temporarily abroad due to their study or work, but came back to homeland after 1994. They were not recognised as citizens, but lived comfortably because the Soviet Union's passport was recognised in Kyrgyzstan before the early 2000s, and after the launch of the passport reform people faced problems.
This picture was specific to other former Soviet republics, too.
According to lawyer Azizbek Ashurov, over 60 mobile teams made of employees of the state body in charge of population registration, lawyers, technical assistants were created then with the support of the UNHCR. The teams received vehicles equipped with hardware so that they could process documents onsite.
Persons turned out to be stateless mainly due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and emergence of new independent states in its territory. The leadership of the countries were faced with a question: which citizens would belong to which states?
Kyrgyzstan also pored over this issue and in 1994, after the law "On citizenship" came into force, recognised all those registered at the time as its citizens. But there were people among the population who were not registered, although they lived actually in Kyrgyzstan. Others, vice versa, resided temporarily abroad due to their study or work, but came back to homeland after 1994. They were not recognised as citizens, but lived comfortably because the Soviet Union's passport was recognised in Kyrgyzstan before the early 2000s, and after the launch of the passport reform people faced problems.
This picture was specific to other former Soviet republics, too.
- "For example, in Uzbekistan the number of such people exceeded 100 thousand people at the time. They passed a new law literally two years ago, and more than a half of those people had an opportunity to acquire citizenship of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Until then, they had a status of stateless people," Azizbek Ashurov said.
During the sovereignty, other reasons for statelessness emerged. Some girls, for example, married citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic and moved here from neighbouring states. Young people, according to lawyers, did not care about migration procedures, failed to register with consular offices of their countries on time and eventually lost their citizenship.
- "Now Tajikistan has cancelled such norms, but Uzbekistan still has similar requirements, which lead to statelessness unilaterally," Azizbek Ashurov said.
The success of Kyrgyzstan, according to the expert, is in the political will. We managed to convince the state in 2014 to start joint detection of stateless people and to provide assistance in their legalisation. The state admitted that it was better to legalise people than to keep them as phantoms and illegal aliens. It was a key moment.
The largest risk for the state, according to him, is the illegal status of people. They cannot be registered with the migration control because they are unseen by the system. They are deprived of a chance to work officially, restricted in all state services and have to live illegally. This is a high risk group in the frontier zone, where there is a risk of illegal trafficking, human trafficking, some other criminals.
Upon legalisation, receipt of documents, people can work full-time, pay taxes, receive state services, move freely and plan for the future. Children get access to education and healthcare services.
After Kyrgyzstan's successful efforts, many delegations from other countries started to visit it to learn from this experience.
Azizbek Ashurov, head of 'Lawyers of Fergana Valley Without Borders', which helped thousands of people to legalise their status and acquire citizenship of Kyrgyzstan, contributed significantly to the solution. He became the winner of the prestigious Nansen award in 2019.
During the talk, the lawyer emphasised that it was important to prevent repeated appearance of statelessness cases. Unfortunately, some citizens face this problem today. And there are many reasons for that.
The largest risk for the state, according to him, is the illegal status of people. They cannot be registered with the migration control because they are unseen by the system. They are deprived of a chance to work officially, restricted in all state services and have to live illegally. This is a high risk group in the frontier zone, where there is a risk of illegal trafficking, human trafficking, some other criminals.
Upon legalisation, receipt of documents, people can work full-time, pay taxes, receive state services, move freely and plan for the future. Children get access to education and healthcare services.
After Kyrgyzstan's successful efforts, many delegations from other countries started to visit it to learn from this experience.
Azizbek Ashurov, head of 'Lawyers of Fergana Valley Without Borders', which helped thousands of people to legalise their status and acquire citizenship of Kyrgyzstan, contributed significantly to the solution. He became the winner of the prestigious Nansen award in 2019.
During the talk, the lawyer emphasised that it was important to prevent repeated appearance of statelessness cases. Unfortunately, some citizens face this problem today. And there are many reasons for that.
Hoped for the best
In 2018, 23-year-old resident of Dzhalal-Abad region Zhamshitbek Abduzhalalov decided to withdraw from the register in order to acquire the citizenship of Russia. One year later, the man received denial from Russia, and he learned later that he was excluded from citizenship of Kyrgyzstan.
In 2021, his passport was withdrawn from him by the passport office. Recently, Zhamshitbek Abduzhalalov got married, but he cannot receive the marriage certificate. Soon, the young man will have his first child and it would be a problem to get a birth certificate without the passport.
Zhamshitbek Abduzhalalov received a residence permit as a stateless person. The procedure took him, he said, about a year. Afterwards, he applied for the citizenship of Kyrgyzstan, and now waits for the president's decree.
In 2021, his passport was withdrawn from him by the passport office. Recently, Zhamshitbek Abduzhalalov got married, but he cannot receive the marriage certificate. Soon, the young man will have his first child and it would be a problem to get a birth certificate without the passport.
Zhamshitbek Abduzhalalov received a residence permit as a stateless person. The procedure took him, he said, about a year. Afterwards, he applied for the citizenship of Kyrgyzstan, and now waits for the president's decree.
- "Hopefully, I will acquire the citizenship soon. I cannot get a job or go abroad without the passport. These are my main problems today. So far, my brother living in Moscow helps my family with money," he said.
32-year-old Bakhtiyar Karapov (not his real name), who was born and raised in the south of Kazakhstan, found himself in a similar situation. In 2018, he withdrew from the register and applied for citizenship of Russia, but his application was rejected. The young man kept on working at Moscow in the taxi service. Thus, a few years passed by. During his stay in Russia, Bakhtiyar Karapov got married, but the marriage was never registered by law.
- "My surname is written in my daughter's birth certificate. In 2022, I wanted to send her to Kyrgyzstan, and asked for a certificate from the embassy of Kyrgyzstan in Moscow, but they took away my passport and issued a certificate of a stateless person to me. Then they told me I was excluded from the citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic back in 2019," he said.
In summer 2023, Bakhtiyar Karapov came back to homeland and by the end of the year he could hardly gather all documents, he admitted, to apply for residence permit, and now he waits for reply from Bishkek.
"If they grant me the residence permit, we can apply for citizenship," he said.
Currently, he cannot get employed because he has no documents, lives with his wife and daughter at his parents' house.
Currently, he cannot get employed because he has no documents, lives with his wife and daughter at his parents' house.
In July 2023, the Dzhalal-Abad-based human rights organisation 'Spravedlivost' [Justice] reported that several residents of the village of Masy, Nooken district, found themselves in trouble when they faced the problem of citizenship. As they worked in Russia, they decided to acquire Russian citizenship to simplify their stay in the country. However, their hopes dashed. They were left stateless.
"If they grant me the residence permit, we can apply for citizenship," he said.
Currently, he cannot get employed because he has no documents, lives with his wife and daughter at his parents' house.
Currently, he cannot get employed because he has no documents, lives with his wife and daughter at his parents' house.
In July 2023, the Dzhalal-Abad-based human rights organisation 'Spravedlivost' [Justice] reported that several residents of the village of Masy, Nooken district, found themselves in trouble when they faced the problem of citizenship. As they worked in Russia, they decided to acquire Russian citizenship to simplify their stay in the country. However, their hopes dashed. They were left stateless.
According to lawyer Ravshanbek Abdullaev, such cases are not unique.
- "Nearly 15 people came to us with this problem, and we still receive such requests," he said.
Some people have already received citizenship, and the rest cannot do it so far. Lawyers accompany some cases until the acquisition of citizenship. Yet some citizens have no documents at all, even birth certificates. In such cases, it is very difficult to do anything, and they have to send requests everywhere.
- "Everything is digitalised now. Some citizens have their data in the state database, others do not, and we need to go to the archives, which requires submission of other documents, so it becomes a vicious circle," said Ravshanbek Abdullaev.
He noted that children who need to obtain passport for the first time would also encounter problems because one of their parents does not have citizenship.
There are no estimates of how many stateless persons reside now in the territory of Kyrgyzstan because these people drop off the radar with the state migration service.
According to Azizbek Ashurov, Kyrgyzstan needs to introduce a separate procedure of status determination for stateless persons. The absence of such a mechanism, he said, is an obstacle to knowing the number of people in such situation.
There are no estimates of how many stateless persons reside now in the territory of Kyrgyzstan because these people drop off the radar with the state migration service.
According to Azizbek Ashurov, Kyrgyzstan needs to introduce a separate procedure of status determination for stateless persons. The absence of such a mechanism, he said, is an obstacle to knowing the number of people in such situation.
- "The procedure is needed in any state. It must be used to have stateless people legalised, recognised, and documented. Thus, they can get basic rights as foreign citizens. And then they can submit documents for citizenship if they meet the criteria, or depart to the country of origin, if they will," he said.
Preventive measures needed
According to Azizbek Ashurov, the state can end statelessness, firstly, by handling all existing cases in the country and legalising citizens and their children, and, secondly, creating the conditions in population registration and immigration control systems to avoid new cases in future.
He emphasised that no country in the world can absolutely guarantee the acquisition of citizenship upon receipt of documents.
The Kyrgyz migrants file for renunciation of citizenship of Kyrgyzstan, deregister and leave for Russia. However, for some reason, they are denied Russian citizenship and thus remain in limbo. Then, such families encounter difficulties with registration of children.
"Lawyers of Fergana Valley Without Borders" organisation works with law-making institutions and special state bodies to promote new legislative amendments, which would prevent cases of statelessness.
According to Nursultan Sydygaliev, leading specialist of the citizenship division of the Department of Registration of Population at the Ministry of Digital Development of the Kyrgyz Republic, the state carries out work to prevent repeated cases of statelessness.
Thus, the law "On citizenship" was amended in February 2023. Now one can renounce the citizenship of Kyrgyzstan only if he/she has another citizenship, or there are guarantees that he/she would obtain another citizenship and would not be left stateless when losing his/her rights.
There have been cases when parents together with children renounce the citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic, then depart to another country, but register only themselves, but not their children, there.
He emphasised that no country in the world can absolutely guarantee the acquisition of citizenship upon receipt of documents.
The Kyrgyz migrants file for renunciation of citizenship of Kyrgyzstan, deregister and leave for Russia. However, for some reason, they are denied Russian citizenship and thus remain in limbo. Then, such families encounter difficulties with registration of children.
"Lawyers of Fergana Valley Without Borders" organisation works with law-making institutions and special state bodies to promote new legislative amendments, which would prevent cases of statelessness.
According to Nursultan Sydygaliev, leading specialist of the citizenship division of the Department of Registration of Population at the Ministry of Digital Development of the Kyrgyz Republic, the state carries out work to prevent repeated cases of statelessness.
Thus, the law "On citizenship" was amended in February 2023. Now one can renounce the citizenship of Kyrgyzstan only if he/she has another citizenship, or there are guarantees that he/she would obtain another citizenship and would not be left stateless when losing his/her rights.
There have been cases when parents together with children renounce the citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic, then depart to another country, but register only themselves, but not their children, there.
- "It happens for a variety of reasons. Perhaps, local specialists did not advise them or it was just a parent's attitude. Later, when they come back to homeland, they learn that their child renounced the citizenship of Kyrgyzstan by the president's decree, and failed to obtain another one, and they face the problem," Nursultan Sydygaliev said.
Moreover, the law of the Kyrgyz Republic "On legal status of foreign citizens in the Kyrgyz Republic" was amended to include a norm that a stateless person shall have a certificate – a document of identification and proving the status of a stateless person.
According to the existing law, recognised stateless persons should obtain a permanent resident card. The procedure (collection of documents, consideration) takes up to one year.
According to the existing law, recognised stateless persons should obtain a permanent resident card. The procedure (collection of documents, consideration) takes up to one year.
- "To speed up the process, we make amendments at a legislative level so that recognised stateless persons could immediately get the identity document. Afterwards, they may submit documents for citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic or get a travel document, leave the country, and obtain a citizenship of another state," Nursultan Sydygaliev said.
The state does not apply any punitive measures towards stateless persons. However, people cannot receive any assistance in the form of social allowances or other if they have no identity documents. Stateless persons cannot place their children in kindergartens and schools, file a petition to state bodies, take part in elections, etc.
"We take it all into consideration and try to simplify the issuance of documents to such people, reduce the terms, and so on. Jointly with international and human rights organisations, we hold training of our employees in the regions about the law "On citizenship", about the provision "On the procedure of consideration of citizenship issues in the Kyrgyz Republic," Nursultan Sydygaliev said.
"We take it all into consideration and try to simplify the issuance of documents to such people, reduce the terms, and so on. Jointly with international and human rights organisations, we hold training of our employees in the regions about the law "On citizenship", about the provision "On the procedure of consideration of citizenship issues in the Kyrgyz Republic," Nursultan Sydygaliev said.
Partnership beyond borders
For years of work, "Lawyers of Fergana Valley Without Borders" understood that statelessness issues go beyond the country, and efforts must be consolidated with organisations in other countries. Thus, the Central Asian Network on Statelessness emerged. Today it consists of 15 organisations, three universities and the civil society of Central Asian states.
The Network, according to Azizbek Ashurov, works successfully. The platform is used by the countries to share information and their practices, representatives of Kyrgyzstan share their experiences.
The Network, according to Azizbek Ashurov, works successfully. The platform is used by the countries to share information and their practices, representatives of Kyrgyzstan share their experiences.
- "Tajikistan and Kazakhstan held their national campaigns after Kyrgyzstan. There are twice as many people in Kazakhstan as in Kyrgyzstan, and they are get registered now. Uzbekistan took a slightly different path, it made legislative amendments and amnestied the people in terms of migration," he said.
The lawyer emphasised that the world has already created key instruments for efficient eradication of statelessness. They are the conventions of the UN relating to the status of stateless persons (1954) and on the reduction of statelessness reduction of statelessness (1961).
Only Turkmenistan has ratified them in Central Asia so far.
Only Turkmenistan has ratified them in Central Asia so far.
- "These two documents specify basic, minimum standards, whose implementation can help the states to effectively fight the issues of statelessness. Ratification of the conventions would help Kyrgyzstan to ensure progress in the future," Azizbek Ashurov said.