CHAPTER I Measures to reduce statelessness “2. The child, one of whose parents has been the citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic, and another parent has been the foreign national, shall be the citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic, except for the case when the child’s parents file a joint application to renounce the citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic regarding the child, who acquires foreign citizenship at birth. “3. The child, one of whose parents has been the citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic, and other parent has been the stateless person or unknown at the time of the child’s birth, shall be the citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic regardless of the place of birth.” ANNEXES 35 RECOMMENDATIONS If only one parent is a Kyrgyz citizen, the other parent can be a national of another country, stateless or unknown. For children who acquire another nationality at birth, the parents can file a joint application renouncing the child’s Kyrgyz citizenship if they wish. The law states: CHAPTER VII 74 CHAPTER VI 73 Kyrgyzstan Ends Statelessness in Historic First, UNHCR press release, 4 July 2019. Kate Bond, Intrepid Lawyer Achieves Quest to Eradicate Statelessness in Kyrgyzstan, UNHCR stories, 2 October 2019. On Civil Status Acts, Kyrgyz Republic, Law No. 110, adopted 1 August 2020 including amendments 16 March 2023; see also Statelessness in the Kyrgyz Republic (2nd ed.), UNHCR, May 2023, pp. 20-21; Ground-breaking Law Means Every Child in Kyrgyzstan Will Have Right to a Birth Certificate, UNHCR, 26 May 2023. On Citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic, Kyrgyz Republic, Law No. 70, adopted 21 May 2007 including amendments 22 February 2023, Art. 12, paras. 2-3 CHAPTER V 71 72 CHAPTER IV The nationality law contains several safeguards that prevent childhood statelessness. The law provides that a child who has at least one parent who is a citizen of Kyrgyzstan acquires citizenship automatically at birth, regardless of whether the child is born in Kyrgyzstan or elsewhere.74 In addition, a child who is born in Kyrgyzstan to parents (or a single parent) who are stateless acquires citizenship automatically at birth. The parent or parents must be officially recognized as stateless. (However, this occurs rarely, on an ad hoc basis, as there is no statelessness determination procedure). Furthermore, a child born in Kyrgyzstan to a single parent or parents who is/are citizens of another State acquires Kyrgyz citizenship if the State of the parents’ citizenship “fails to grant citizenship CHAPTER III Birth registration law and procedures in Kyrgyzstan are robust and generally comply with international standards. Amendments to the law on Civil Status introduced on 16 March 2023 aim to ensure the registration of birth of all children born in the country, including children born to undocumented or stateless parents. The law has retroactive effect, allowing the registration of children born to undocumented or stateless parents before the law came into effect, who previously could not be registered.73 CHAPTER II Approximately 2,000 children were granted citizenship of Kyrgyzstan as part of this campaign.71 This success was partly due to NGO mobile teams’ outreach to stateless people, including by horseback in the most remote areas.72 In addition, the Government amended the nationality law to prevent or resolve statelessness. Since 2019, a couple of hundred stateless people have been identified, and their situation has been or is being addressed.