Law

1. Citizenship Law

a. Jus sanguinis and jus soli Provisions

The Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Citizenship of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which came into effect in 2020, is the main legislative document for citizenship in Uzbekistan. The Law contains provisions for both jus soli and jus sanguinis citizenship, and expressly states the right to citizenship. Regardless of birthplace, a child born to two Uzbek citizen parents (or a single parent) will be a citizen by descent as stated in Article 14 of the Law. Children of a stateless parent are also entitled to citizenship by descent, regardless of birthplace as long as they have one parent who is a citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan. In instances where one parent is a citizen of Uzbekistan and the other parent is a foreign citizen, while the child is entitled to citizenship this process is not automatic and it is the responsibility of the Uzbek citizen parent to request citizenship for the child.

The Law provides that anyone who was a permanent resident in the Republic of Uzbekistan since July 28, 1992 and is not a citizen elsewhere will be a citizen of the Republic. This provision directly addresses the statelessness of many which resulted from Uzbekistan’s succession from the USSR.

In Article 3 of the Law on Citizenship, a stateless person is defined as “a person permanently residing in the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan who is not a citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan and does not have proof of his/her affiliation to citizenship of a foreign state”. This definition is not in line with the definition provided in the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons as it places the burden of proof on stateless persons and incorporates residency requirements.

b. Naturalized Citizenship

Stateless people in Uzbekistan can apply for naturalization in an equal manner to foreign citizens under Article 19 of the Law by attaining five years of residency with a valid residence permit, having a legitimate source of income, complying with the Constitution of Uzbekistan, and being able to communicate in the state language. It should be noted that this provision appears to require a foreign citizen to renounce their foreign citizenship, then endure five years of statelessness with a permanent residence permit in Uzbekistan before becoming eligible for Uzbek citizenship. The provision further mentions that stateless persons will still meet residency requirements if they have traveled outside of the country for no longer than 6 months each year. A simplified naturalization procedure is available for stateless persons and foreign citizens who have a “direct ascendant relative who lives in the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan and is a citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan”. Those with ascendant links to the country, eligible for the simplified procedure, will receive a letter of guarantee of citizenship of the Republic, valid for one year, while they renounce their foreign citizenship. This ensures that they do not become stateless in between the process of renunciation and acceptance of citizenship to Uzbekistan. Foreign citizens applying for citizenship through the standard process are not protected in this way if they are not eligible for the simplified procedure.

Additionally, the Law provides that foreign citizens and stateless persons may be granted citizenship in an exceptional manner by the President outside of the requirements set out in Articles 19 and 20. The 2020 Law also includes provisions for a simplified procedure for recognition of Uzbek citizenship for stateless persons who arrived in the country before January 1, 1995. As long as such persons do not have citizenship of another country and had residence permits (identification document for stateless persons) before the new Law was enacted, they are entitled to Uzbek citizenship and can apply through the simplified procedure for their citizenship to be recognized.

Article 22 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan On Legal Status of Foreign Citizens and Stateless Persons in the Republic of Uzbekistan, ensures that stateless persons and foreigners have the right to appeal negative decisions. Uzbekistan should consider ensuring a simplified process of naturalization for all stateless persons, not just those with ascendent ties to Uzbekistan, in its territory as Article 32 of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons stipulates that such a process should be expedited for stateless persons to “reduce as far as possible the charges and costs of such proceedings”.

c. Dual Citizenship

Dual citizenship is not recognized by the Republic of Uzbekistan Foreign citizens who do not have links to Uzbekistan through descent are required to renounce their citizenship in order to obtain citizenship of the Republic.

Status of Accession Of International Human Rights Treaties

Country	Stateless 1	Stateless 1	Refugee	ICCPR	ICESCR	ICERD	CRC	CEDAW
Uzbekistan

Signifies that the country is a party to the convention

Stateless 1 – 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons

Signifies that the country is not a party to the convention

Stateless 2 – 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness

2. Treaty Ratification Status

Article 2 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Citizenship of the Republic of Uzbekistan states that “if an international treaty of the Republic of Uzbekistan establishes other rules than those provided for by the legislation on citizenship of the Republic of Uzbekistan, then the rules of the international treaty are applied.”

Uzbekistan has ratified the ICCPR, ICESCR, ICERD, CRC, and CEDAW with no reservations. The country has yet to ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol, the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, or the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Uzbekistan is the only country in Central Asia that has yet to ratify the Refugee Convention and its Protocol. Despite the fact that Uzbekistan has not yet ratified the Statelessness Conventions, much of its legislation already aligns with the Conventions, including the right to citizenship protected in the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Citizenship of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

In 2020 concluding observations by the CEDAW Committee, it was recommended that Uzbekistan provide legal safeguards for its citizens living abroad who have not registered at a consulate in the last 7 years to ensure they do not become stateless.

Uzbekistan’s ratification of the ICERD binds the Republic to ensure that the right to nationality is protected. In 2020, the CERD Committee expressed concerns about the requirement for stateless persons to prove a source of income in order to apply for citizenship. The concluding observations also included concerns about discrimination faced by the Luli/Roma community, particularly the barriers they face to obtain identity documents and recommended to immediately ensure that Luli/Roma have access to such documents. To this, Uzbekistan responded as part of the follow-up procedure stating that “Lyuli/Roma persons in Uzbekistan have equal rights and equal opportunities to obtain identity documents” and that as of November 2020, 25,638 documents were issued to Lyuli/Roma persons, “including 13,100 to women”. The Committee responded to Uzbekistan’s follow-up reaffirming their concerns that only 25,638 documents were issued despite the fact that there are 69,851 Luli/Roma in Uzbekistan. Additionally, the Committee requested Uzbekistan to provide an explanation for the discrepancy in issuance of identity documents.

Further included in the concluding observations by both the CERD and CEDAW committees, are concerns regarding the lack of guarantee of Uzbek citizenship for a foreign citizen renouncing their citizenship of another state while still in the process of applying for citizenship of Uzbekistan. The CEDAW committee further expressed recommendations to ensure proper legal safeguards for children born in the territory who may otherwise be stateless and that all children born in the territory be “registered at birth and have access to Uzbek nationality and identity documents”. Uzbekistan is obligated, under its ratification of the CRC, to ensure that all children be registered immediately at birth.

Population

1. Reported Stateless Persons

By the end of 2022, there were 27,389 reported stateless persons in Uzbekistan, which was a 10,604 decrease from 2021. These numbers also show exceptional improvement in the reduction of statelessness from five years ago, when the reported population reached 97,346 stateless persons. Further, 83,793 cases have been resolved in the country since 2014, evidencing that Uzbekistan has made great strides in identifying and resolving cases of statelessness. UNHCR reported numbers include only stateless persons with permanent residence permits officially reported by the government.

2. Persons at Risk of Statelessness

Foreign citizens at risk of statelessness in Uzbekistan include those going through the naturalization process who do not have descendent links to Uzbekistan applying for naturalization. Uzbek citizens living abroad who have not registered at a consulate in the past 7 years are also at risk of losing their Uzbek citizenship. Children at risk of statelessness include: those born to one foreign citizen and one

Uzbek citizen, those born to one stateless parent and one foreign parent, foundling children who may know the identity of one or both parents, children of undocumented single mothers and children who would otherwise be stateless.

The historically nomadic Lyuli/Mughat community in Uzbekistan comprises an estimated 69,851 people. The Lyuli/Mughat community faces socioeconomic discrimination and marginalization based on their ethnicity with low access to quality education, health, employment and housing. The community tends to be “confined to a low level education, informal employment, temporary housing and unaffordable medical services” and many face barriers in obtaining identity documents placing them at risk of statelessness.

Reported stateless persons to the UNHCR

Country	2019 (year start)	2020 (year end)	2021 (year end)	2022 (year end)
Uzbekistan	79,942	69,791	37,993	27,389

Source: UNHCR, Global Trends: Forced Displacement from 2019-2022.

Causes of Statelessness

1. Lack of Legal Safeguards Against Childhood Statelessness

Jus soli provisions mean that children born to stateless parents in the territory of the Republic will be citizens by birth. However, the Law does not provide for situations where a child is born in the territory to one stateless parent and one parent who is a foreign citizen. While there are protections for children born to stateless parents, there are no provisions specifically for children born in Uzbekistan who may otherwise be stateless. Further, children born to one stateless parent and one foreign parent in the territory are specifically excluded from citizenship and will become stateless if not eligible for another nationality. Foundling children will also gain citizenship if their parents are unknown, however UNHCR has noted that the language of this provision may indicate that children who may know some information about their parents, but are nonetheless unable to acquire citizenship through them, will not gain citizenship. Gaps in protection also exist for children of one or both parents who are undocumented due to potential difficulties in registering the birth of the child without full documentation.

2. Citizenship Stripping

A citizen of the Republic may lose their citizenship on the grounds of enlisting in the state authorities of a different state, failing to register with the permanent consulate register within seven years without valid reasons while living abroad, providing false information in application for citizenship, causing “substantial harm to the interests of society and state,” or acquiring citizenship of a foreign state. While the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan guarantees the right to appeal, safeguards should be made for Uzbek citizens living abroad who have not registered at a consulate in the last seven years who will be stateless if stripped of their Uzbek nationality and do not have another nationality. Foreign citizens who do not have ascendent links to the country and are applying for citizenship are not eligible for the simplified procedure which includes legal safeguards protecting against statelessness throughout the process of naturalization as a result of renunciation of foreign citizenship.

3. Administrative Barriers

Uzbek law states that a citizenship certifying document can be a passport of a citizen of the Republic or any document indicating citizenship of the Republic. Medical birth certificates are required for birth registration for children and, inturn, for applying for admission to citizenship of Uzbekistan. For stateless adults applying, a birth certificate is required if they are applying through the simplified procedure.

The birth registration rate in Uzbekistan stands at 100%. Birth registration is carried out by the Registration of Acts of Civil Status, as stipulated by the Decision of the Cabinet of Ministers on Approving the Rules of Registration of Acts of Civil Status. The Decision provides that all births must be registered “at the place of birth or at the place of permanent or temporary residence of parents or one of the parents”. A 2020 amendment to the Decision provided further safeguards for registration at birth for those without permanent residence in Uzbekistan at the time of birth.

Despite Uzbekistan’s high birth registration rate, undocumented parents could still face barriers in registering their child’s birth with parents required to show documentation in order to register the birth of their child. Provisions do exist for allowing parents to register their child’s birth without documentation “on the basis of a written request from a medical institution or from social services”. However, this requirement could still present an obstacle to undocumented parents registering their child’s birth, which could lead to the child becoming stateless. The Decision (mentioned above) also includes a provision specifically ensuring prompt registration of the births of foundling children. If one parent is undocumented, the Decision provides that registration of the child’s birth will require a marriage certificate preceding child’s birth registration, which does not protect, for example, undocumented single mothers.

Uzbekistan

Overview

Law