Also in line with Action 1 and Action 6, UNHCR provided legal assistance for the completion of naturalization applications to 321 refugees at risk of statelessness, including 179 children, in the Kayes region of Mali. The activities are in support of the Government’s effort to resolve the situation of refugees at risk of statelessness who arrived in Mali in the mid-1980s. issues concerning actual paternity. The Government is expected to appeal the ruling. In line with Action 6, on 13 May, Kazakhstan adopted amendments to the Migration Law which foresee the establishment of a statelessness determination procedure (SDP). The Ministry of Internal Affairs is currently in the process of developing and approving the new SDP via a by-law. To aid in this process, UNHCR provided recommendations and draft SDP articles conforming with international human rights standards and best practices in the area of statelessness reduction and protection of stateless persons in line with UNHCR’s Handbook on the Protection of Stateless Persons and Good Practices Paper on Action 6. With respect to Action 3, Remove gender discrimination from nationality laws, on May 25, The Bahamas’ Supreme Court indicated its intention to rule that anyone born in The Bahamas is entitled to citizenship at birth if at least one of their parents is a citizen of the country, irrespective of whether the parents are married. Unmarried Bahamian fathers are currently not able to confer nationality on their children at birth. Children born out of wedlock in The Bahamas to a foreign mother and a Bahamian father are thus not granted Bahamian citizenship at birth; they may only apply for Bahamian nationality upon turning 18. The court has adjourned the final ruling in the case until July 2020 because of evidentiary Furthermore on Action 6, on 16 June, Ukraine adopted a bill on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Concerning Recognition as a Stateless Person to formally establish a statelessness determination procedure. The bill was drafted by members of the Parliament’s Human Rights Committee Askar Khodjiev, a lawyer working for one of UNHCR’s partner organizations in Tajikistan, is providing legal counselling to a stateless person and explaining the recently enacted Amnesty Law and legalization procedures in the country. © UNHCR/Nodira Akbaralieva 4

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