Hadicha, an 80 year-old woman who pursuant to the Amnesty Law in Tajikistan recently received a residence permit legalizing her stay in the
country. © Asia Plus/Zarina Ergasheva
Also in line with Action 1, on 4 November UNHCR
launched a large-scale information and awareness
raising campaign in Tajikistan on the recently enacted
Amnesty Law paving for a solution to the most
complex cases of statelessness in the country. The
objective of the campaign is for eligible stateless
persons to come forward and legalize their status.
In line with Action 2 and Action 8, Issue nationality
documentation to those with an entitlement to it,
the Women Jurists’ Association of Côte d’Ivoire,
supported by UNHCR, provided legal assistance
to persons at risk of statelessness to resolve their
situation and help ensure that foundlings are issued
with birth and nationality certificates. In 2020, this
work has led to the issuance of documentation to
over 300 children.
In line with Action 2, Ensure that no child is born
stateless, approximately 47,000 children born in
Colombia to Venezuelan parents have acquired
Colombian nationality since the adoption of
Resolution 8470 of 2019. UNHCR is advocating for
the extension of this measure beyond its current
expiration date in September 2021.
In line with Action 6, Grant protection status
to stateless migrants and facilitate their
naturalization, on 10 November, the Department
of the Interior and Local Government of the
Philippines issued a Memorandum Circular on Local
Government Assistance for Persons of Concern.
The Circular is meant to ensure that asylum seekers,
refugees and stateless persons have uniform access
to basic services and assistance at the local level,
particularly in times of public emergencies. The
Circular covers a wide range of areas of assistance,
such as education, livelihood, and self-reliance
programmes, and will contribute to further inclusion
of persons of concern in the Philippines.
Also in line with Action 2, on 5 October, the House
of Representatives of the Philippines approved the
Foundling Welfare Act, which if it becomes law would
recognize foundlings as natural-born Filipino citizens
regardless of status or circumstances of birth and
allow them to access government programs and
services. This is in line with the Government of the
Philippines’ pledge at the 2019 High-Level Segment
on Statelessness and its commitments under the
National Action Plan to End Statelessness by 2024.
The author of the bill is currently advocating for
adoption of a counterpart bill in the Philippine Senate.
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