local registry offices do not issue marriage certificates when one spouse does not hold Kyrgyz citizenship, which in turn creates more stateless persons. Many reported that stateless persons face economic problems and wish to go to Russia for migrant labour but cannot do so due to lack of valid passports. Stateless women in the north voiced similar problems. There are stateless women who still live with expired Soviet passports and do not have de-registered from their previous residency in Tajikistan, Russia or Uzbekistan. They cannot receive child allowances and pensions due to lack of valid IDs. There were incidents of police harassment and extortion. Some stateless women are afraid to leave their villages. Due to absence of passports, women cannot register immovable property, protect their rights in civil cases (employment, divorce). This further increases their vulnerability in their families and communities. Stateless persons have to pay higher fees for medical services. The majority of stateless persons in the south are women from Uzbekistan who married nationals of Kyrgyzstan. They have expired Uzbekistan passports and/or have not de-registered from home country since many years and failed to legalize their stay in Kyrgyzstan. Some women do not have any valid documents or still possess old Soviet passports. Many stateless persons have professional education to make their living themselves, but they were not able to work officially due to lack of valid documents. Leasing land plots for farming is also not possible without proper legal status. Most of the women are hired to work for local farmers in the field or are involved with household activities. The group noted their concerns with rise of nationalism after June events. Problems with documents deprives many women of receiving social benefits (child allowances, pensions) and restrains their access to medical services, especially in situations requiring stationary treatment in hospital. In some maternity houses stateless women cannot receive birth certificates for their children without paying unofficial fees. Some women admitted that continuous problems with documents were reason for problems and harassment within the families. Stateless men in the South are mainly ethnic Kyrgyz people who have moved in Kyrgyzstan after the collapse of the USSR with old Soviet passports or Statelessness IDs. According to them, they have failed to exchange their expired IDs to Kyrgyz passports. Some were just unable to return to previous country of residence to renew or extend IDs in due time and found themselves in a situation without any legal document to legalize their stay in Kyrgyzstan. After many years, they applied for Kyrgyz citizenship: a very time consuming process. Stateless men raised problem of local registration (“propiska”) with authorities as well as lack of de-registration from their previous country of residence. Absence of citizenship and valid IDs makes them limited in freedom of movement within Kyrgyzstan and abroad. Also, as a result of statelessness they are unable to get official employment, rely on occasional work, lack protection from law enforcement organs. UNHCR is most grateful to all the stateless persons who participated in the focus group discussions as well as to Ministry of Labour, Employment and Migration (MoLEM), Mandatory Health Insurance Fund (MHIF), State Registration Service (SRS), Citizenship Commission under the Presidential Administration, Counterpart Sheriktesh, Legal Clinic Adilet, Ferghana Valley Lawyers without Borders and Center for Support of International Protection who agreed to nominate their staff to participate in these PAs with UNHCR. Small Changes ‫ ـ‬Big Gains: An Action Plan to Prevent and Reduce Statelessness in the Kyrgyz Republic 18