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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Tens of Thousands of Deportees Could Be Granted Ukrainian Citizenship

13 November, 2012 - 00:00

Over 70,000 citizens from various CIS countries, mostly from Uzbekistan, could be granted Ukrainian citizenship in the immediate future. This new wave of migrants represent peoples deported during World War II from Ukraine and the Crimea to Central Asia: Crimean Tartars, Germans, Armenians, and Georgians.

This became a real possibility after the recent conclusion of negotiations between Ukraine and Uzbekistan. As a result of the negotiations the Uzbek government has adopted a simplified procedure of renouncing Uzbek citizenship for deportees who have now returned to Ukraine. They are also exempted by the Uzbekistan side from paying a $100 state duty.

The Kyiv Branch Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) jointly with the Presidential Administration is slated to launch an information campaign on clarifying the procedure of granting Ukrainian citizenship for the deportees and their descendants. Christoph Bierwirth, Senior Protection Officer of the UNHCR Kyiv Office in a conversation with The Day pointed out that this action will provide technical assistance for various departments of the Ministries of Foreign and Internal Affairs, State Committee of the Crimea on Nationality Issues, and various archives. The UNHCR office intends to allocate $300,000 to $500,000 to this end.

According to Christoph Bierwirth, as a result of a previous campaign of this kind conducted among more than 20,000 representatives of the deported peoples, over 7,000 have already been granted Ukrainian citizenship. An UNHCR report states that in addition to de jure 13,000 people with no citizenship who are already living in Ukraine, the total number of people wishing to be granted Ukrainian citizenship may near 60,000.

 

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