Project of the Nansen Award laureate
The Nansen Award includes a commemorative medal and a monetary award of $150,000, generously provided by the governments of Switzerland and Norway. In collaboration with UNHCR, the recipient will allocate the award funds to a project that complements their ongoing activities. Azizbek Ashurov as a laureate has used funds of the award for the following initiatives to enhance the work against statelessness:
Centre for Legal Identity and Nationality
In September 22, 2021, Mr Ashurov launched a training centre on nationality as part of the project implemented with his Nansen Award prize. In cooperation with the Ministry of Digital Development of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Centre provides capacity building and education for state services, lawyers, and law students to ensure the training and skill sharing on the issues of nationality, statelessness and migration.
Professional Capacity Building for State Authorities
193 officers of the State Registration Service increased their professional knowledge and skills through 10 trainings. This included additional trainings conducted in 2022 at the request of the SRS, following the armed border conflict in the Batken region. These migrants needed procedures to legalize their status in the country. The trainings were provided in Bishkek, Batken, Jalalabad, Osh, and Chui regions on citizenship issues, procedures for determining stateless persons, and their naturalization, including the application of new laws on the adoption of citizenship for certain groups and stateless persons.
Development of Civic Engagement Skills of Formerly Stateless Communities
The project also aimed to increase the civic engagement skills and life potential of former stateless persons, helping them integrate into their new legal environment. Training sessions were held for 54 migrant community members on civil rights implementation, civic engagement skills, and self-legalization. As a result, social network groups were created to further mentorship and advise on citizenship and documentation issues, administered by FVLWB lawyers and SRS citizenship officers.
Increase the Capacity of Regional Public Registration Centers
Three public service centers were selected to better serve vulnerable groups with infrastructure, computer equipment, and training support. The selected centers were in Osh city, Belovodskoe (Chui region), and Toguz-Toro (Jalalabad region). Capacity-building works, including reconstruction, finishing, and equipment upgrades, were completed in 2021. These upgrades improved the conditions for service provision and increased the number of employees.
Development of a Specialized Course on Migration Law
Due to limited legal knowledge among lawyers regarding migration and nationality law, a specialized training course was created. The course aims to provide students with theoretical and practical knowledge about migration law, focusing on asylum, statelessness, and human trafficking. The pilot of the course “Migration and Nationality Law” has been developed and covered 2 pre-selected law students groups from 2 inter university law clinics in Bishkek and Osh.
Open Legal Clinics
Two legal clinics in Bishkek and Osh were opened to provide clinical education for law students on migration law and nationality issues. The clinics offer educational observatories for students to participate in judicial proceedings and practical trainings under mentor-lawyers, representing beneficiaries' interests in various state bodies. Books, equipment, and furniture were purchased for the clinics, which began their training based on the specialized course from October 1, 2022.
Experience Sharing Visits
A series of exchange visits were organized for representatives of Central Asian countries, CSOs and academic communities to transfer knowledge and learn from Kyrgyzstan's experience in reducing statelessness. Among these events, the organization of the Retreat and the 6th annual meeting of the Central Asian Network on Statelessness was organized on April 24-25, 2022 in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, and for online participants. This event was organized jointly by the Central Asia Network on Statelessness and UNHCR in Central Asia.
Inclusive Sports for Children
An inclusive streetball court for children, including those of migrants and citizens, was created in a public park in Osh. This initiative, planned in conjunction with the local school, aims to improve social integration for children in the local community and reduce the gap between migrant and local resident communities. The project will also create conditions for better integration of children from formerly stateless families into society.
Central Asian Network on Statelessness
Currently, Azizbek Ashurov leads the Central Asian Network on Statelessness - a voluntary informal association of non-profit non-governmental organizations and their networks, academic institutions and media organizations, as well as civil activists of the Central Asian region based on voluntary, equal and active participation in achieving common goals in the field of preventing and reducing statelessness in the countries of Central Asia. The network consists of 15 organizations representing 5 Central Asian countries. It should be noted that during the short period of its existence, the Network has been a leading partner of UNHCR in the eradication of statelessness. Its members have made significant contributions in most Central Asian countries, where fairly optimistic processes have been achieved. Following Kyrgyzstan, in 2019 Tajikistan adopted an amnesty law that will have a positive impact on about 50,000 stateless persons and implies their naturalization. Also finally, in Uzbekistan, which had the largest number of stateless persons (about 100,000) compared to all Central Asian countries in the region, about 50,000 stateless persons are set to receive citizenship following the adoption of a new citizenship law signed by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan recently. This is a very important expectation of the year in the Central Asian region.
