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Kyrgyz Lawyer Who Helped End Statelessness Wins Nansen Refugee Award

Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA - Human rights lawyer Azizbek Ashurov, who helped end
   statelessness in his home country of Kyrgystan, is this year's winner
   of the UNHCR prestigious [1]Nansen Refugee Award. The award is named
   after Fridjof Nansen -- scientist, polar explorer and the first High
   Commissioner for Refugees.

   More than 10 million people around the world are stateless. Many in
   countries such as Myanmar, Turkey, the Dominican Republic and Zimbabwe
   live in a state of limbo. They are deprived of the basic rights of
   citizenship. They have no right to work, to get an education,
   healthcare, to get married or registered at birth.

   They have been described as national ghosts.

   Kyrgystan is the first country in the world to eliminate statelessness.
   Azizbek Ashurov, this year's Nansen Laureate, did a great deal to make
   this happen. He and his organization, Ferghana Valley Lawyers Without
   Borders, have helped more than 10,000 people gain Kyrgyz nationality.

   After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, many people became stranded
   in newly formed states. Their Soviet passports were invalid, and they
   had no way to prove where they were born. Ashurov and his family were
   among those who had become stateless.

   He says he was motivated to change his family's situation and to help
   thousands of others regain their nationality. He tells VOA the first
   big challenge facing him, and his team was to persuade the government
   that ending statelessness would be of benefit to both the people and
   the country.

   "On a practical level, actually our teams included officers on the
   passport desk from the government. And they worked together with us and
   visited rural areas, mountain territories, sometimes on horses. So,
   now, after five years'¦ We have done the first step. We end existing
   cases or statelessness in my country," he said.

References

   1. https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/nansen-refugee-award.html

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