Convention. The possibility of accession is envisaged in Article 35 of the 1954 Convention for any member state of the United Nations or other state invited to accede by the General Assembly of the United Nations. This Convention is important for the Kyrgyz Republic, as it can serve to unify legislation, reducing conflicts in the legal framework. 2) The definition of stateless persons given in Article 3 of the Law On Citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic on the whole reflects the definition in the Convention of a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law. However, the interests of de facto stateless persons are not taken into account in the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic. Therefore, if Kyrgyzstan accedes to the 1954 Convention, their interests should be included in the country’s legislation. 3) The legal status of stateless persons in the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic meets the standards established in the 1954 Convention. In addition, in certain cases, the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic gives stateless persons greater rights than envisaged under the Convention. This applies in particular to ethnic Kyrgyz. 4) The Kyrgyz Republic does not have special procedures to determine if persons are stateless, but there is a procedure for determining eligibility for citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic. Therefore, we recommend that if the Kyrgyz Republic accedes to the 1954 Convention, the passport and visa control bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and also diplomatic representations and consular services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should be given the additional function of determining whether persons are stateless taking into account the due process of law. 5) In accordance with legislation in force in the Kyrgyz Republic, identity documents for stateless persons are bestowed if there is a necessity for a stateless person with permanent residence in the Kyrgyz Republic to leave the country. That is, it is given only to stateless persons with permanent residence in the Kyrgyz Republic (Article 24 of Regulation 626 on the Procedure for Drawing Up and Granting Temporary and Permanent Residence for Foreign Citizens and Stateless Persons on the Territory of the Kyrgyz Republic of 13 November 2008). The legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic does not envisage providing travel documents to other stateless persons, including those with temporary residence in the Kyrgyz Republic. Therefore, if the country were to accede to the 1954 Convention, legislators should consider the possibility of providing identity documents in accordance with Articles 27 and 28 of the Convention to all stateless persons located in the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic, regardless of their type of residence permit. 6) The legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic concerning naturalisation, and expulsion (non-refoulement) of stateless persons is adequate, and the recommendations of the Convention in this field are fully met. 45 Small Changes ‫ ـ‬Big Gains: An Action Plan to Prevent and Reduce Statelessness in the Kyrgyz Republic