Mukhamadjon, formerly stateless, Uzbekistan The challenges of stateless people in Uzbekistan are similar to those in Moldova: they’re mostly a result of the dissolution of the former Soviet Union. Previously, Soviet citizens of all ethnicities were able to move between the republics freely with a passport. This changed with the succession of 15 new nations. In 2014, there were more than 97,000 stateless people and people of undetermined nationality in Uzbekistan. In most cases, their plight arose from policy gaps that often-excluded people of other nationalities – including those from neighboring countries – from receiving official identification and other documents that granted them the same rights as citizens, including freedom of movement across borders. For many years, this was the reality for Mukhamadjon, a kickboxing champion and taekwondo instructor. He was stateless for most of his first 28 years of life, and it cost him the chance to pursue athletic competition in other countries and represent his country at international tournaments. “It felt as if I was part of a family, but nevertheless an orphan; as if this country did not accept me,” he said. “I’m Uzbek. I grew up in Uzbekistan, I studied here, I love this country.” Born to Uzbek parents in the Kyrgyz Republic just four months before the collapse of the Soviet Union, he and his family moved to Uzbekistan at the end of 1992. However, they missed a critical deadline for citizenship, and so Mukhamadjon became stateless. He trained hard throughout his youth in martial arts, hoping to become a regional champion and compete in the Olympics. But the realities of his situation prevented the travel that was necessary for those opportunities. “I was the Uzbek champion in kickboxing and there were moments when my coach wanted to send me for international championships abroad, but … there would always be problems with the visa,” he says. The situation finally changed for Mukhamadjon and thousands of other stateless people in April 2020, when the Government of Uzbekistan adopted a new provision in its law that granted citizenship to registered stateless people who had been permanent residents in the country before 1995. With this momentous change, 49,228 people resolved their statelessness. Five Central Asian states – Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Kazakhstan – have made notable progress in addressing statelessness since the beginning of the IBelong Campaign. Uzbekistan has also amended its birth registration processes and launched a national campaign to identify unregistered births, helping prevent new cases of statelessness. Although Mukhamadjon’s competitive years are behind him, he’s taking pride in coaching a new generation of martial artists – and he hopes to accompany them to tournaments in Asia and beyond, realizing his dream in a different way. 28 #IBELONG