Citizenship Plan Seen as Flawed
Citizenship Plan Seen as Flawed
The Kyrgyz government is going to find it no easy task to hold onto its citizens if they decide to acquire a passport from another country, NBCentralAsia analysts say.
The Committee for Migration and Employment recently proposed that Kyrgyz nationals who obtain a passport from another country should automatically retain their original citizenship. According to the committee, this would not require formal recognition of dual citizenship, which entails major legal commitments. Instead, it would simply permit people who have abandoned Kyrgyz citizenship to return home at some future date.
But experts on the subject argue that this automatic retention of Kyrgyz citizenship could be interpreted as unilateral recognition of the principle of dual citizenship. If Kyrgyzstan chooses to do so, and introduces the appropriate changes to the constitution, it will then have to bring both domestic legislation and international agreements into line with this new policy. Such a procedure would necessitate extensive coordination with other countries, and require Kyrgyzstan to review the terms of all the international conventions to which it is a signatory.
One of the major obstacles to introducing dual citizenship would be presented by inter-state accords governing the lives of citizens, for example military service and pensions. All these matters would need to be spelled out clearly and formally, at least with the countries where the greatest numbers of Kyrgyz citizens might be living.
Russia, which last year granted citizenship to 38,000 immigrants from Kyrgyzstan, might be unhappy with a dual citizenship arrangement – even an informal one - with Kyrgyzstan. The experience of Turkmenistan, which recognised dual citizenship with Russia, demonstrates that the practice is open to abuse. For instance, dual citizenship makes it easier for criminals to hide out in the other country.
Even if Kyrgyzstan decides to recognise dual citizenship, the state is unlikely to be in a position to guarantee protection and social benefits for those citizens who have automatically been allowed to keep their passports. This would somewhat reduce the efficacy of a step that has been designed to prevent the able-bodied population from emigrating permanently.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
The Committee for Migration and Employment recently proposed that Kyrgyz nationals who obtain a passport from another country should automatically retain their original citizenship. According to the committee, this would not require formal recognition of dual citizenship, which entails major legal commitments. Instead, it would simply permit people who have abandoned Kyrgyz citizenship to return home at some future date.
But experts on the subject argue that this automatic retention of Kyrgyz citizenship could be interpreted as unilateral recognition of the principle of dual citizenship. If Kyrgyzstan chooses to do so, and introduces the appropriate changes to the constitution, it will then have to bring both domestic legislation and international agreements into line with this new policy. Such a procedure would necessitate extensive coordination with other countries, and require Kyrgyzstan to review the terms of all the international conventions to which it is a signatory.
One of the major obstacles to introducing dual citizenship would be presented by inter-state accords governing the lives of citizens, for example military service and pensions. All these matters would need to be spelled out clearly and formally, at least with the countries where the greatest numbers of Kyrgyz citizens might be living.
Russia, which last year granted citizenship to 38,000 immigrants from Kyrgyzstan, might be unhappy with a dual citizenship arrangement – even an informal one - with Kyrgyzstan. The experience of Turkmenistan, which recognised dual citizenship with Russia, demonstrates that the practice is open to abuse. For instance, dual citizenship makes it easier for criminals to hide out in the other country.
Even if Kyrgyzstan decides to recognise dual citizenship, the state is unlikely to be in a position to guarantee protection and social benefits for those citizens who have automatically been allowed to keep their passports. This would somewhat reduce the efficacy of a step that has been designed to prevent the able-bodied population from emigrating permanently.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
