Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan discuss progress on pledge implementation and statelessness eradication efforts.
© UNHCR/ Aiya Siyaz
Representatives of the Governments of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan gathered at UN Plaza in Almaty on 4 October to discuss progress in implementation of Global Compact on Refugees pledges and efforts to end statelessness.
Since 2019, States, academia, NGO consortia and the UN in Central Asia have submitted 38 pledges to improve the lives of refugees and stateless people in the sub-region, including by issuing machine-readable travel documents [i], facilitating access to healthcare and social protection [ii] and higher education scholarships [iii], and considering ratification of the UN Statelessness Conventions [iv].
Organized by UNHCR, the regional consultative meeting provided the opportunity for participants to share achievements and experience in implementation of their pledges, as well as reflect on areas where further efforts are needed.
With 2024 marking the end of the global #IBelong Campaign to End Statelessness, and launch of the new Global Alliance to End Statelessness, the consultations were also a forum for States to discuss ongoing activities to reduce and prevent statelessness.
Speaking at the event, Zhanibek Abdrashov, Ambassador-at-Large and Head of the Representative Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Almaty, stressed Kazakhstan’s active participation in global UN initiatives, and recalled that since 1999, Kazakhstan has been actively participating in the Convention on the Status of Refugees and the Global Refugee Compact. In December 2023, at the Second Global Refugee Forum, Kazakhstan made six new voluntary commitments aimed at simplifying procedures for granting refugee status and expanding the rights of stateless persons.
Over 25 representatives attended the event in-person, with online participation from asylum and statelessness experts in Geneva and Bangkok, and government counterparts in the Philippines and Thailand – States which have already joined the Global Alliance to End Statelessness.
“Over the last 10 years, Central Asia has become a model for the world in ending statelessness,” said Dumitru Lipcanu, acting UNHCR Representative for Central Asia. “The sub-region has made remarkable progress since the launch of the #IBelong campaign in 2014, resolving the cases of nearly 200,000 people, ensuring they have a nationality, can access their human rights, and can participate fully in society. Central Asia is showing the world that statelessness in solvable.”
As of mid-2024, Central Asia hosts 22,772 refugees and asylum-seekers, and 36,994 known stateless people. UNHCR continues supporting Central Asian governments and stakeholders to implement existing and future pledges, working together in solidarity to find lasting solutions for refugees and stateless people in the region.
[i] In 2019, Kazakhstan pledged to “Issue ICAO standard Machine-Readable Convention Travel Documents to refugees”, and in 2021 the Kyrgyz Republic pledged “Issuance and provision of machine-readable travel documents for refugees and stateless persons recognized by the Kyrgyz Republic in line with ICAO standards.”
[ii] In 2021, the Kyrgyz Republic pledged to provide “Access to healthcare and social protection to refugees and asylum-seekers on par with citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic.”
[iii] In 2023, Kazakhstan pledged “Introducing a refugee quota for higher education scholarship programme by 2024”.
[iv] In 2019, the Kyrgyz Republic pledged “… to intensify its work on studying the experience of other State parties to the UN Conventions of 1954 and 1961 on statelessness”, and Tajikistan pledged “to consider the issue of ratification of the 1954 and 1961 [Statelessness} Conventions.”
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