Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan – Today the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, government and civil society partners briefed Members of Parliament on progress and key issues related to statelessness in the Republic of Kazakhstan, and discussed solutions to eradicate it.
The briefing was opened by Mr. Akan Rakhmetullin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; Ms. Elvira Azimova, Commissioner for Human Rights; Ms. Michaela Friberg-Storey, UN Resident Coordinator; Mr. Hans Friedrich Schodder, UNHCR Representative for Central Asia; and Mr. Arthur van Diesen, UNICEF Representative in Kazakhstan. The briefing was moderated by Ms. Aigul Kuspan, Chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security of the Mazhilis of Parliament.
“The United Nations reaffirms its support to the important work of Kazakhstan to eradicate statelessness. Through continued commitment, and in the spirit of the 2030 Agenda to ensure no one is left behind in the country’s sustainable development, Kazakhstan can achieve this ambitious goal, and serve as a model for the rest of the world,” said Ms. Michaela Friberg-Storey, UN Resident Coordinator in Kazakhstan.
As most situations of statelessness can be prevented or resolved through legislation, parliamentarians play a critical role in bringing the scourge of statelessness to an end, stressed Greetings from the Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Mr. Martin Chungong.
The briefing received an analysis of the compliance of national legislation of Kazakhstan with international citizenship and statelessness standards, commissioned by UNHCR, as well as the publication Kazakh language of the joint IPU-UNHCR Handbook for Parliamentarians on good practices in nationality laws for the prevention and reduction of statelessness, which provides practical guidance to support law reforms to ensure that no child is born stateless, that no one is arbitrarily deprived of nationality, and that stateless persons are identified, and their naturalization facilitated.
Since the launch of the Global #IBelong Campaign to End Statelessness in 2014, Kazakhstan has made good progress in addressing and preventing statelessness. Main achievements include amendments to the Code on Marriage and Family to ensure birth registration for all children born in Kazakhstan; implementation of a country-wide statelessness identification and documentation campaign and establishment of statelessness determination procedures.
“Based on the progress made by Kazakhstan to address statelessness and the country’s progressive ratification of universal human rights instruments, UNHCR has strengthened its advice and support for a possible accession to the 1954 and 1961 Statelessness Conventions. We remain committed to continue supporting the Government, Parliament, and authorities in accelerating achievement of the #IBelong Campaign to end statelessness by 2024,” said Mr. Hans Friedrich Schodder, UNHCR Representative for Central Asia.
Statelessness in Kazakhstan and neighboring states largely resulted from the dissolution of the Soviet Union. While many residents were able to confirm or acquire the nationality of Kazakhstan or another successor state, some remained in legal limbo. Currently over 7,800 stateless persons are known to still require a nationality in Kazakhstan, though their actual number is likely higher.
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