In November 2021 the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, conducted a workshop to assist the work of the Migration Service Committee of the MIA, officials from its territorial departments, and civil society partners in identifying and documenting stateless persons.
Statelessness Determination Procedures (SDPs) were adopted in Kazakhstan in 2020 through amendments to the Law on Migration. SDPs allow stateless persons to obtain legal status in Kazakhstan which in turn grants them access to basic human rights. Since the adoption of SDPs the Migration Service Committee, with the support of UNHCR and its NGO partners, has officially recognized and documented as stateless more than 1,600 persons.
“We are pleased to cooperate with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other partners on this training which will contribute to enhancing a common understanding of remaining challenges and will formulate recommendations to overcome these in accordance with best practices. UNHCR is committed to continue supporting Kazakhstan in the reduction and prevention of statelessness and in line with standards set out in the 1954 and 1961 UN Statelessness Conventions. To ensure legal identity and enjoyment of rights for all plays an important role in achieving Sustainable Development Goals under Agenda 2030 – Leaving No One Behind,” said Mr. Dumitru Lipcanu, Deputy Representative of UNHCR for Central Asia.
Adoption of SDPs is part of Kazakhstan’s contribution to the global #IBelong campaign to end statelessness by 2024 and is a result of joint work implemented by authorities, UNHCR and other partners. UNHCR has been cooperating with partners on ending statelessness since the launch of this campaign in 2014. With the support of UNHCR, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan has been able to help thousands of stateless persons with documents, access to rights, and/or nationality.
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