Representatives from the Governments of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan are in Georgia this week to learn about the country’s experience and success in reducing statelessness.
The visit is organized by UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, in collaboration with the Public Services Development Agency of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia, and supported by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Statelessness, the situation of not being recognized as a citizen by any country, affects millions of people around the world. Without a nationality, stateless people often cannot access the most basic of rights, including education, employment and healthcare.
The study visit aims to facilitate sharing of experiences and best practices by the Georgian authorities in dealing with citizenship and statelessness issues, including coordination mechanisms, inter-agency cooperation between government, civil society and international organizations and other stakeholders, and the impact of acceding to the UN Statelessness Conventions.
“Georgia is considered to have some of the most successful statelessness reduction and prevention practices in the world,” said Kemlin Furley, UNHCR Representative in Georgia. “Having achieved great results in addressing statelessness, Georgia made even further commitments at the 2019 UNHCR Executive Committee to improve the rights of this vulnerable group by promoting the naturalization of stateless persons and aligning the country’s practices even closer to international standards.”
The study visit includes discussions with Ketevan Betlemidze, Chairman of the Public Services Development Agency – the agency responsible for significantly decreasing the number of stateless people in the country. Georgia was the first country among former Soviet republics to introduce the procedure for determining the status of a stateless person.
“Citizenship provides an individual with protection by a State, enabling them to more meaningfully contribute to economic, social and cultural development of the country,” said Hans Friedrich Schodder, UNHCR Representative for Central Asia. “We remain committed to continue supporting the Government, Parliament, and authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan in accelerating efforts to eradicate statelessness.”
In 2014, UNHCR launched the global #IBelong Campaign to End Statelessness within ten years by identifying and protecting stateless people, resolving existing situations of statelessness and preventing the emergence of new cases.
Statelessness in Central Asia largely resulted from the dissolution of the Soviet Union. While many residents were able to confirm or acquire the nationality of the independent States, some still remain in legal limbo. There are currently over 40,000 known stateless persons in Central Asia, though the actual number is likely higher.
To date, 96 States have acceded the 1954 Convention, and 78 States to the 1961 Convention, including six CIS countries. Guided by the #IBelong campaign, additional States are exploring possible accession, signalling strengthened global political will to end statelessness.
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