Passport award ceremony to people who were given Turkmenistan citizenship according to the Decree signed by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov on September 20 took place in the conference hall of the State Migration Service.
Representative of ministries and departments of the country, international organizations accredited in Turkmenistan, mass media and elders took part in the event.In the speeches, the participants of the event expressed gratitude to the Head of the State for the attention paid to problems of stateless persons, for making of all conditions for their normal life.
Head of the UNHCR Regional Office for Central Asia Yasuko Oda, Special representative of the UN Secretary General for Central Asia, Head of the UN Regional Office of Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia Natalya German, The UN Permanent Coordinator in Turkmenistan Natalya Panova who participated in the ceremony noted significant contribution of Turkmenistan to solution of issues of stateless people, which example is important not only for Central Asian region but for entire world as well.
It was highlighted in the letter, which has come on the same day to the address of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, who expressed sincere gratitude for the leading role, which Turkmenistan continues playing in solution of non-citizenship problem in Central Asia and on global level.
Humanitarian direction is one the components of home and foreign policy of Turkmenistan.The country was one of the first in the region to pay close attention to this problem where solution of refugees and stateless persons issues requires consolidation of international efforts. 23,930 people received Turkmenistan citizenship for the years of Independence.
National Action Plan of elimination of non-citizenship in 2018 2024 for assistance to identified people without citizenship and provision of relative guarantees for prevention of this occurrence has been developed by the initiative of the President of Turkmenistan.
Therefore, current event again confirmed invariable commitment of our country to universal standards of international law, promotion of regional and global humanistic initiatives proposed by the Head of the State.