academic institutions or experts, and governments, so as to promote increased understanding of the nature and scope of the problem of statelessness, to identify stateless populations and to understand reasons which led to statelessness, all of which would serve as a basis for crafting strategies to addressing the problem.”4 As a result, UNHCR has worked with governments, civil society and academic institutions in Central Asia to increase efforts to identify stateless populations. Indeed, UNHCR has stepped-up reporting on the magnitude and nature of statelessness, relying on data gathered from States, academics, civil society and through the efforts of UNHCR field offices. Data on stateless populations is now systematically reported in UNHCR’s annual population statistics. On a day-to-day basis, stateless persons in the Central Asian States are identified when they seek permission to stay in the country. Across the region, it is usually the Ministry of Internal Affairs of each country, or a specialised arm of it, that makes this determination. Most exisiting government data is of limited value for determining the total magnitude of stateless populations, because it includes only stateless persons with documentation. Those who have not approached the authorities and been documented as stateless persons, or who have difficulty establishing their nationality, are not included in these ministries figures. Nor are stateless persons who are refused citizenship, or deported. The situation is different in Kyrgyzstan where specialised commissions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs – called the Conflict Commissions on Citizenship Issues – deal mostly with former USSR citizens who may qualify for citizenship under the 2007 Citizenship Law. In Turkmenistan, stateless persons are registered by the State Migration Service, which does include in its statistics persons without documentation, and holders of USSR passports. Drawing on official figures, UNHCR recorded 46,886 stateless persons in the Central Asia region at the end of 2009.5 In Kyrgyzstan, 46 individuals had received residence permits for stateless persons and Stateless Person’s Cards allowing them to exit and re-enter the country. On the basis of 1999 census data and three surveys carried out in 2007-08 as well as data from the State Registration Service, UNHCR estimates that 24,615 stateless persons reside in Kyrgyzstan. In Tajikistan the number of officially registered stateless persons at the same time was 249 persons, while in Kazakhstan, 7,649 were officially registered as stateless persons at the end of 2009. Another 12,000 were estimated to be stateless in Turkmenistan. Nonetheless, UNHCR believes the real number of stateless persons in the region is higher. This conclusion is supported by the results of a registration drive held in Turkmenistan and surveys undertaken in Kyrgyzstan. Those efforts are described below and served to show that there were many stateless persons dispersed among the general population who were previously unknown to the authorities, civil society or UNHCR. 1.2.1 Population census Population census is a primary way of gathering demographic data, including on the number of stateless persons in a country. A national census carried out in Tajikistan in 2000 recorded 2,297 people who identified themselves as stateless. No data from other government sources was available to corroborate this figure. The census results were not widely publicised and led to no further demographic studies. It is not known how many stateless persons subsequently acquired a citizenship. Tajikistan conducted a census in 2010 that also asked respondents about their nationality with “stateless/no nationality” as an option. UNHCR and the national authorities are currently discussing the possibility of carrying out in-depth follow-up sampling. Targeted local surveys could shed light on the age, gender and origin of stateless people and help to explain why they are stateless. It should also help identify obstacles these people had encountered in acquiring or confirming nationality and in enjoying basic rights. 4 Executive Committee of UNHCR, Conclusion No 106: Identification, Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness and Protection of Stateless Persons, 2006, Paragraph (e), available at http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/453497302.html. 5 UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 2009 Global Trends, Division of Programme Support and Management, 15 June 2010, available at http://www.unhcr.org/4c11f0be9.html. ~5~