Pledges SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: CENTRAL ASIA Kazakhstan made two pledges at the 2023 Global Refugee Forum to “establish relevant legislative safeguards to reduce statelessness in Kazakhstan within 2024-2025” and “reducing the number of stateless persons through naturalization in 2024”.401 At the High-Level Segment on Statelessness in October 2019, all countries in Central Asia other than Uzbekistan made pledges related to the reduction of statelessness.402 At the event, Kazakhstan pledged to improve birth registration access by amending national legislation.403 Kyrgyzstan made pledges to regulate the statelessness determination process, ensure all children have a birth certificate and align birth registration legislation with international standards, and “study the experience of other State parties to the 1954 and 1961 Conventions on Statelessness”.404 Tajikistan also pledged to consider legalization of persons illegally residing in Tajikistan, ensure universal birth registration by reforming the Civil Registration System, improve statistics on statelessness by identifying persons at risk of statelessness, stateless persons Foundling children in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan will be citizens at birth.412 Uzbekistan will grant citizenship to foundling children only if their parents are ‘unknown’413, while in Tajikistan, foundlings are guaranteed citizenship but may have to go through an application process in order to acquire it.414 SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: CENTRAL ASIA and persons with undetermined nationality, and consider ratifying the statelessness conventions.405 Further, Turkmenistan pledged to implement a widespread registration campaign and improve statistics, resolve all cases on statelessness, and redefine the definition of the status of stateless persons, and end the risk of statelessness for children of undocumented parents.406 UNHCR commended Kyrgyzstan for its 2023 amendments to citizenship legislation which show action towards fulfilling the pledges made by the country in 2019.407 Further, new legislation passed in 2021 brought birth registration legislation in line with international standards.408 Outside of Kyrgyzstan, almost none of the 2019 pledges have been fulfilled. A new Amnesty Law and reform in the Civil Registration system has been implemented in Tajikistan409 and some improvements in birth registration have occurred in Turkmenistan.410 Turkmenistan also made a pledge to resolve all existing cases of statelessness by 2024. However, with a high number of stateless persons reported to UNHCR in 2022, fulfilling this pledge seems unlikely.411 There is a six month window where an individual stripped of citizenship in Kyrgyzstan can appeal the decision.418 Citizens of Uzbekistan may have their citizenship stripped for failing to register with the permanent consulate register within seven years without valid reasons while living abroad.419 The right to appeal is guaranteed in Uzbekistan.420 Turkmenistan’s citizenship law Citizenship stripping In Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, citizenship may be stripped on the grounds of being involved in terrorist crime.415 While individuals in Kazakhstan are able to file appeals to reinstate their citizenship,416 there are currently no laws in Kazakhstan preventing those who are stripped of their citizenship from becoming stateless.417 44 In Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, citizenship may be stripped on the grounds of being involved in terrorist crime Citizens of Uzbekistan may have their citizenship stripped for failing to register with the permanent consulate register within seven years without valid reasons while living abroad STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC (DETAILED VERSION) protects citizens from being deprived of their citizenship in any circumstances.421 Requirement of birth registration for citizenship acquisition Administrative barriers Passports as well as birth certificates certify citizenship in Kyrgyzstan437, Turkmenistan438, and Uzbekistan439. In Turkmenistan440 and Uzbekistan441, a birth certificate certifies citizenship before a passport is issued (and up until a child reaches the age of 16 in Turkmenistan). While Tajikistan’s citizenship legislation does not specifically state which documents are required to certify citizenship, a birth certificate is required in order to obtain identity documents, including a passport.442 Tajikistan’s Constitutional Law only provides that the “document confirming nationality of the Republic of Tajikistan is an official document that indicates nationality of a person.”443 A National ID is the main citizenship certifying document in Kazakhstan; however, to obtain a National ID, one must at least submit their birth certificate and ID of one of their parents.444 While birth registration rates are high in Central Asia, Uzbekistan is the only country in the sub-region to achieve a 100% birth registration rate.422 The remaining countries in Central Asia are not far behind with birth registration rates in the high 90th percentile (Kazakhstan: 99.7%423; Kyrgyzstan: 98.9%424; Tajikistan: 94%425; Turkmenistan: 99.6%426). Birth registration is a prerequisite for citizenship in Kazakhstan427 and Kyrgyzstan428 and is required to obtain identity documents in Tajikistan429. Due to gaps in legislation and implementation in Kazakhstan, birth registration for children born to undocumented parents at times has resulted in non-compliant documents being issued and left children at risk of statelessness.430 In Kyrgyzstan, a new law came into force in June 2023 ensuring all children are registered at birth regardless of the legal status of their parents and providing birth registration access for children who have already been born to stateless or undocumented parents.431 Parents who lack identity documents may have difficulty registering their child’s birth in practice in Tajikistan.432 However, Tajikistan has made significant improvements in birth registration with its new electronic system launched and amendments to the Civil Registration Law in 2019.433 The changes waive the requisite fee when a birth is registered in the first 3 months, making it more accessible for rural and poor women and families.434 Turkmenistan also enacted a new law which ensures universal birth registration, which aims to prevent childhood statelessness.435 Prior to this law, children born to undocumented parents, stateless parents, or parents with undetermined nationality had low access to birth registration due to lack of documentation.436 FIGURE 1 Birth registration rates of countries in Central Asia Kazakhstan 90-99%445(2022) Kyrgyzstan 98.9%446(2018) Tajakistan 95.8%447(2017) Turkmenistan 99.9%448(2019) Uzbekistan 100%449(2022) 0 20 40 60 80 100 Source: Birth and Death Registration Completeness” (UN Statistics Division, April 2023); Data Warehouse,” UNICEF DATA, https://data.unicef.org/resources/data_explorer/ unicef_f/ REPORT 2024 45