DUSHANBE, September 17, 2009, Asia-Plus – A roundtable meeting on situation of stateless persons in Tajikistan will take place in conference hall of the Tajikistan Hotel in Dushanbe on September 18, according to the UNHCR Office in Tajikistan.
Organized in cooperation with President’s Executive Office, the meeting will bring together representatives of President’s Executive Office, head of UNHCR Office in Tajikistan and international and local experts on statelessness.
Stateless person -means a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law. Article 14 of the Constitutional Law of Tajikistan “On Citizenship” states that “stateless person is a person who is not a citizen of the Republic of Tajikistan and who does not have proof of possessing citizenship of another state.”
In addition to Refugees, the issue of stateless persons is also a matter of concern for UNHCR and since 1974 the UNHCR has been dealing with the issue through various UN General Assembly Resolutions.
Recognizing the importance of this effort, the UN General Assembly, through Resolution 50/152 of December 21, 1995, requested UNHCR to coordinate international actions with regard to protection of stateless persons and reduction of statelessness. In doing so, the General Assembly also requested UNHCR to promote accession to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.
UNHCR in Tajikistan, as part of a regional Central Asian project, has carried out legal analysis of the statelessness situation in the country and is working with various partners to develop activities to work on prevention and reduction of statelessness and protection of stateless persons.
The participants, representing various government and non-government organizations will exchange information on the issue, update on recent development, review the findings of the legal analysis and discuss areas of possible cooperation and future actions in this field.
