Nothing is impossible: the story of a future surgeon and a successful businessman
Armin Talebi, along with his parents, refugees from Afghanistan, moved to the city of Almaty in Kazakhstan in 2006. Armin was only six years old, but he still remembers how difficult the move was. His parents could not find a job and permanent housing, Armin had difficulties at school because […]
Long road to happiness: the story of a stateless family with four children
Long road to a happiness: the story of a stateless family with four children. Natalia Gulyak has a large and close family, together with her husband they raise four sons. The happy life of Natalia and her husband Vladimir was complicated by one circumstance: Natalia did not have citizenship or […]
Right on a birth registration is the right of every child
On 26 March 2020, a joyful event happened in the family of 19-year-old Nina: she gave birth to her first child, son Radomir. The happiness of young parents was tampered by only one circumstance: Nina could not register the birth of her child, because she did not have valid identity […]
Ilonna lived without citizenship for many years
Ilonna Pozharskaya, a 30-year-old mother of two children, lived without a passport for most of her life. “My mother moved to Kyrgyzstan when I was a child. I didn’t ask her why we had moved from the Amur Region. We settled in Issyk Kul region. At the age of 17, […]
In Vahdat, a refugee single mother makes and distributes 600 COVID masks for free
Shahrbonu, a young single mother from Afghanistan, arrived with her children in Vahdat city one year ago. This city hosts the majority of Tajikistan’s refugee community with approximately 4,000 residing there, mostly from Afghanistan. The move to Tajikistan was difficult for Shahrbonu. She lives with her parents and has four […]
Refugee nurse on the front lines in Tajikistan’s battle against COVID
In 2006 Diyono and her family fled Afghanistan when she was still a teenager. Her family of six was granted refuge in Tajikistan and lives in the north of the country in Sughd Province. After finishing high school in Khujand, Diyono enrolled in medical college and in 2013 graduated as […]
Faced with COVID, Refugees in Tajikistan Struggle to Survive
When Zilme, his wife Sausan, and their three children arrived in Tajikistan in 2013, they hoped to find a better life. They had fled Afghanistan when security conditions declined and it became too dangerous for the family to remain. However, their new life in Tajikistan, while safe, has been one […]
2020 World Refugee Day Statement by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi
We are marking this year’s World Refugee Day against a backdrop of a dramatic global crisis. Not only are record numbers of people forced to flee their homes, but the world is grappling with COVID-19, a disease that is still very much affecting us all. What started as a health […]
The end of statelessness means a fresh start for an ‘invisible’ family
Imagine a 30 year-long life with a feeling of being ‘invisible’ or not belonging anywhere. Three sisters, Dariha, Kamesh and Daniya, had the exact same life experience. They were born in Omsk region, the former Soviet Union, in 1984, 1986 and respectively 1988. In 1990, when the eldest sister was […]
Previously stateless Sevilia, who recently obtained Kyrgyz citizenship, wants to represent Kyrgyzstan abroad
Sevilia Mamedova is a 19-year-old student at the Judicial Academy. She is an athlete and represents Kyrgyzstan in sporting events. But a couple of years ago, the girl did not know whether she could complete school and receive the coveted certificate of general education to enter university. “All my school […]
Refugee university students conduct online lessons to support distance learning in Kyrgyzstan during the coronavirus crisis
Refugee students of local universities conduct extra-curricular lessons via WhatsApp for children from the refugee community in Kyrgyzstan
Formerly stateless, Umijon’s family in Batken received assistance to obtain citizenship
Umijon gets on well with everyone in the area. Congenital deafness does not prevent the 20-year-old from doing work around the house, communicating by mobile phone and playing football with his peers. “Our whole family moved to Uzbekistan in 1993. We worked there and our children studied at local schools. […]