Kyrgyzstan

The Kyrgyz Republic hosts over 1,000 people of concern to UNHCR, including 320 refugees and 683 asylum-seekers from Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine, and other countries.

As of the end of 2021, Kyrgyzstan hosted 178 refugees recognized by the national authorities and 142 refugees recognized by UNHCR according to its mandate. Most ‘mandate refugees’ have lived in the country for many years and are culturally integrated – some are married to citizens and have children born in Kyrgyzstan. However, without legal residency, they do not have access to socio-economic and other basic rights.

Encouraged by the global #IBelong Campaign to End Statelessness, in 2019, the Kyrgyz Republic became the first country in the world to resolve all its known cases of statelessness and made four pledges to prevent the re-occurrence of statelessness, which are yet to be implemented.

The UNHCR National Office in the Kyrgyz Republic focuses on meeting the protection needs of refugees, asylum-seekers and newly discovered stateless persons, as well as strengthening the capacity of relevant authorities and civil society to develop national legislation. The Kazakhstan Multi-Country Office provides oversight, funding, and strategic direction of UNHCR interventions in Kyrgyzstan.