Kazakhstan Population

1. Reported stateless persons

In 2022, UNHCR reported 8,569 stateless persons in Kazakhstan, which shows an increase of 738 reported stateless persons in the year since 2021. The true number of stateless persons living in Kazakhstan may be higher than reported, with ICERD noting that data collection needs improvement. The reported population in 2022 shows an increase of 879 reported stateless people since the start of 2019.

The stateless population in Kazakhstan is largely made up of those who did not acquire citizenship of Kazakhstan or another successor state after the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. In 2020, a nationwide campaign to identify stateless persons was launched by UNHCR with the goal of increasing registration and resolution of statelessness in Kazakhstan.

2. Persons at risk of statelessness

Those who are at risk of statelessness in Kazakhstan generally comprise children born to two foreign parents within Kazakhstan’s territory, children born to refugees, undocumented parents, or parents who are otherwise unable to confer nationality to their child, as well as children born to stateless parents who are not permanent residents of Kazakhstan.

3. Kazakhstan’s Pledges to End Statelessness

Kazakhstan made two pledges at the 2023 Global Refugee Forum: to “establish relevant legislative safeguards to reduce statelessness in Kazakhstan within 2024-2025” and to “reduce the number of stateless persons through naturalization in 2024”. At the High-Level Segment on Statelessness in 2019, Kazakhstan made a pledge to “improve access to birth registration procedures through amendment of the national legislation to ensure that every child is registered at birth”.