1. Lack of legal safeguards against childhood statelessness
Kazakhstan’s national legislation provides that children born to one Kazakhstani citizen parent and one parent who is officially recognized as stateless or whose nationality is undetermined will have Kazakhstani citizenship by descent no matter their birthplace. The law also provides for those children who are born to two stateless parents within Kazakhstan will only have citizenship if their parents are permanent residents. Foundling children in the territory of Kazakhstan are considered citizens through jus soli provisions if their parents are unknown. Citizenship is also protected for children under the age of 14 whose mother is stateless or has undetermined nationality and whose father is a citizen. Provisions affecting children born to a citizen and a foreign parent outside of Kazakhstan which stipulate a requirement of written consent from the parents in order to pass citizenship to their child could leave some children at risk of statelessness.
2. Citizenship stripping
Article 10(2) of the Constitution of Kazakhstan states that a citizen may be stripped of citizenship by an order of the Court only on the grounds of commission of terrorist crimes or acting against the interests of the Republic of Kazakhstan. There are currently no laws in Kazakhstan preventing those who are stripped of their citizenship from becoming stateless. Although, individuals are able to file appeals to reinstate their citizenship.
3. Administrative barriers
Aside from political rights, stateless individuals in Kazakhstan enjoy nearly equal rights to citizens, which has lowered the priority to resolve stateless status in the country. For children a birth certificate as well as a passport of either parent are required in order to become a citizen of Kazakhstan. Despite Kazakhstan’s birth registration rate standing around 90-99%, concerns have been expressed with regards to provisions for documentation to a child born to two undocumented parents.
The Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Marriage (Matrimony) and Family stipulates that birth registration is administered via “medical birth certificate or a copy of a court decision establishing the fact of birth”. Article 187 of the Code, states that the registration for a child born to two undocumented parents (unable to provide a passport) or a mother without proof of identity in a medical institution will be administered under the statement of information given by the mother.
Concerns have been raised with the implementation of this legislation, which often results in issuance of documents that are not in full compliance with the law and lack information given by the mother about her identity. The lack of thorough and consistent birth registration for children born to undocumented parents places such children at risk of statelessness. If a child of two undocumented parents is born outside of medical facilities, they are especially at risk of statelessness as they are not protected by laws regulating birth registration.
