Janibek Gadaev, an ethnic Kyrgyz, returned to his historical homeland from Tajikistan more than ten years ago. He settled in the village of Vasilievka, located in the Alamudun district of Chui region. The process of obtaining a passport took him almost four years and was quite complicated.
Photo from personal archive. Janibek and Parvana
Currently, bureaucratic obstacles have also affected Janibek's family. His wife Parvana, who arrived in Kyrgyzstan in 2023, cannot process her documents due to discrepancies in personal data: her mother's name in the passport and civil registry documents differs. As a result, Parvana finds herself without legal status, and their four-month-old child is without a birth certificate.
“No one explained to us what to do. We reached out to various organizations, but to no avail. Now we hope that after contacting a deputy, we can resolve our problem. I constantly go from one office to another after the wedding and face rude treatment at every turn,” shares Janibek.
Many ethnic Kyrgyz, like Janibek, live in the Alamudun district, in villages such as Vasilievka, Vinogradnoe, Polevoe, and Oktyabrskoe. According to Jogorku Kenesh deputy Temirlan Aitiev, their number in this area is nearly 40,000 people. Most of them have turned to him for help, complaining about the same difficulties: issues with obtaining citizenship, processing documents, and receiving social benefits.
Temirlan Aitiev emphasizes that, in addition to bureaucratic problems, there is also a question of professional ethics among government employees providing services to the population. In his opinion, the rudeness and indifference of officials create additional obstacles for migrants.
“In Kyrgyzstan, compatriots who have returned home in search of protection are sometimes treated even worse than enemies,” he believes.
The story of Aysulu Nosirova, who was born in Tajikistan, serves as an example. After the border conflicts in 2021, she moved to Kyrgyzstan with her husband and two children, obtaining refugee status. Despite both spouses having already acquired citizenship, they have been unable to process documents for their children for almost five years.
The problem lies in the confusion with surnames: the husband changed his surname from Nosirova to Sulaymanov, while the children are listed on their birth certificates under the old surname. The Public Service Center (PSC) demanded that the documents be brought into compliance. While the borders were closed, the family had to go to Moscow to change the children's surname to Sulaymanov, which cost nearly 50,000 soms. However, upon returning, the PSC staff just shrugged and asked, “Why did you even change them?”
“My older son is 19 years old, and the younger one is 16. He is finishing school, but he is not in the electronic journal, and now they are saying he won't be allowed to take exams. The PSC sends us from one window to another. When I asked the manager what to do, he rudely replied, ‘Go wherever you want, even to the ministry,’” Aysulu expresses her outrage.
The Ombudsman Institute confirmed that the problems faced by Janibek and Aysulu are systemic: monitoring revealed numerous appeals from ethnic Kyrgyz who find themselves in a legal trap.
Migrants from Tajikistan often face criminal cases for illegal border crossing while trying to escape conflicts, and men struggle for years to obtain passports due to the inability to be removed from military registration in their home country, where they face threats of interrogation.
The situation is exacerbated by bureaucratic "football" in the PSCs, where citizenship documents can be lost for extended periods, the absence of a mechanism for confirming children's birth certificates, and strict registration deadlines, the violation of which leads to serious fines.
Human rights defenders are demanding that the government implement a large-scale migration amnesty and simplify the legislative procedures for legalizing compatriots.
In response to a request from 24.kg, the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection, and Migration noted that according to the presidential decree of August 2, 2024, the issue of discrepancies in documents is no longer an obstacle: applicants can now independently choose how to write their full name from the passport or birth certificate. The ministry emphasized that ethnic Kyrgyz with the status of qayrylman have the same rights to social benefits and privileges as citizens of Kyrgyzstan.
Reference 24.kg
Ethnic Kyrgyz returning to their homeland receive the status of qayrylman, which is issued for three years. This status grants the right to social benefits, allowances, and legal residence while the person processes full citizenship of Kyrgyzstan.
The ministry emphasizes that the "qayrylman" status was created to simplify the process of obtaining citizenship. The decision to issue it is made by an interdepartmental commission (GKNB, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Labor) within two months.
Despite numerous complaints, the ministry claims that qayrylmans are provided with all benefits: hundreds of children study in schools and universities, and adults receive medical care, pensions, and allowances on par with citizens of Kyrgyzstan.
Meanwhile, deputy Temirlan Aitiev has appealed to the Ministry of Justice through parliament, requesting a review of the mechanisms for issuing documents and the development of clear algorithms for interaction with countries of origin. According to him, obtaining a single certificate should not take a year.
The parliamentarian criticized the inertia of officials: “Why don’t the authorities see the problem? Because ethnic Kyrgyz are a very patient people. They rarely turn to social media or the media. And our government agencies only react when discontent becomes widespread,” he concluded.
- According to the Ministry of Labor data, as of January 1, 2025, since gaining independence, more than 70,000 ethnic Kyrgyz have returned to their historical homeland.
