UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes conducting the 2021 population census in Kazakhstan with the inclusion of a component on nationality and statelessness. UNHCR is pleased to cooperate with the Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan to improve data collection on stateless persons, in support of the overarching goal of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development “Leave No One Behind”.
The roll-out of the population census in Kazakhstan provided the critical opportunity to gather data on stateless persons and map the full extent of statelessness in the country. The census results can provide data on the demographic characteristics of stateless persons, the extent and causes of statelessness, to inform policymakers on how it can be speedily resolved and prevented in the future.
“We welcome the efforts of the Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan to make the 2021 population census fully inclusive and accessible to as many people as possible, including stateless persons. Improving qualitative and quantitative data on statelessness is one of the action points of the Global #IBelong Campaign to End Statelessness by 2024. We are pleased to commend Kazakhstan’s progress towards achieving this objective. This year when we mark the 60th anniversary of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, we reflect on the importance of this treaty and boost our efforts to resolve and prevent statelessness. Improving data collection on stateless persons is essential in this regard,” said Hans Friedrich Schodder, UNHCR Representative for Central Asia.
All stateless persons in Kazakhstan could take part in the census either online (if they are officially recognized and documented as stateless) or during the second classical phase with enumerators, which was launched on 1 October.
As part of preparations for the 2021 population census, UNHCR and the Bureau of National Statistics have been cooperating on a census information campaign to increase awareness of the population, including stateless persons, and on training census enumerators on data collection and statelessness issues. These activities have been implemented with financial support from the Joint Data Center on Forced Displacement, a World Bank-UNHCR collaboration.
Statelessness is estimated to affect millions of people around the world but measuring the full extent of statelessness is complex given that stateless people are often undocumented and remain unseen and unheard. People who are not accepted as nationals of any country can be deprived of basic rights, including civil and political rights such as freedom of movement, freedom from arbitrary detention, and political participation. Statelessness also affects their socio-economic rights such as education, employment, social welfare, housing and healthcare.
Collecting data on statelessness remains a significant challenge globally. During the 2009 National Population Census in Kazakhstan some 57,000 respondents had identified themselves as stateless. As of end 2020, the Migration Service Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs had registered 7,118 stateless persons in the country, but undocumented stateless persons, including those of undetermined nationality, have not been counted. During a country-wide identification and documentation campaign at the end of May 2021, conducted with UNHCR support, the Migration Service registered close to 5,000 persons of undetermined nationality. Throughout 2015-2020, UNHCR partner organizations identified more than 6,500 persons of undetermined nationality in Kazakhstan, but the overall numbers is believed to be larger.
We acknowledge contributions made to the Joint Data Center by the Government of Denmark represented by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Commission represented by the Department for International Partnership (INTPA), the U.S. Government represented by U.S. Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), and the IKEA Foundation.
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