The Regional Ministerial Conference “Eradicating Statelessness in Central Asia” was held in Ashgabat, where the countries of the region demonstrated impressive achievements in solving this problem. As noted by UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Legal Protection Ruvendrini Menikdiwela, Central Asia occupies a leading position in the world, and Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan became the first countries to completely eradicate known cases of statelessness on their territory.
During the conference, representatives of Central Asian countries, UNHCR and other international organizations shared their experience in solving the problem of statelessness. Thus, according to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Myahri Byashimova, Turkmenistan became the first country in the region to join key international treaties on statelessness. This made it possible to protect the rights of stateless persons at the national level and share experience with other countries.
According to the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan, over the entire period of eradicating statelessness, Turkmenistan has granted citizenship to more than 32 000 stateless persons and more than 5 000 residence permits, having fully resolved this issue on its territory.
The conference participants emphasized that the achievements of Central Asia can serve as an inspiring example for other regions of the world facing the problem of statelessness. They called on all countries in the region to join the Global Alliance to End Statelessness and continue decisive actions to achieve sustainable results in this area. Following the results of the Ministerial Conference, a final document was adopted.
