Kyrgyzstan Will Introduce Travel Documents for Refugees in Accordance with ICAO Standards

Preparations are continuing in Kyrgyzstan for the introduction of travel documents for refugees that comply with ICAO standards. This issue was one of the key topics discussed at a meeting between Kiyalbek Dosmatov, First Deputy Minister of Labor, Social Security, and Migration, and Mahir Safarli, the representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Central Asia.

According to the Ministry of Labor, the agency is implementing practical measures to introduce a new document that will allow refugees to obtain international-standard travel documents.

To this end, a Cabinet of Ministers resolution dated January 31 approved the Regulations on the Procedure for Accepting Documents for the Preparation, Personalization, and Issuance of Refugee Travel Documents. The document will enter into force on August 6, 2026.

The ministry also reported that in the near future, it plans to create a specialized database for registering refugees and to integrate the necessary information systems. This should improve the efficiency of processing and personalizing new documents.

In addition to the introduction of travel documents, the parties discussed Kyrgyzstan’s fulfillment of its obligations under the Global Compact on Refugees, issues related to the protection of mandate refugees, and the improvement of legislation regulating access to employment for asylum seekers.

First Deputy Minister Kiyalbek Dosmatov thanked UNHCR for its ongoing support and noted that Kyrgyzstan, a party to the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees since 1996, continues to fulfill its international obligations regarding the protection of refugees’ rights.

Following the meeting, the parties reaffirmed their intention to continue cooperating on the development of the national system for the protection of the rights of refugees and stateless persons.