Photo Credit: Refugees International
11/08/2007

Statelessness in Kyrgyzstan, as in other Central Asian countries, is a neglected problem. Its exact extent is unclear, with estimated numbers ranging from 10,000 to 100,000, but as part of the 2009 census, the State Committee on Migration in coordination with the United Nations Refugee Agency, which has a mandate for stateless persons, is undertaking a survey on statelessness. This is a welcome move within a refugee protection regime and naturalization system which, marred by political pressure, corruption, discrimination, neglect and bureaucratic excess, engenders statelessness.