Turkmen authorities' refusal to renew passports of its citizens abroad interferes with their right to freedom of movement and imposes serious hardships, the Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (THF) and Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. In recent years, passport renewal has become a serious problem for many Turkmen nationals temporarily or permanently living abroad.
The 70-page report, "'It's Like I live in a Cage': Turkmen Authorities' Denial of Passports to Turkmen Citizens in Türkiye," describes Turkmenistan's refusal to renew passports outside of the country as part of the government's broader effort to severely restrict freedom of movement within its wider system of repression. The groups documented the hardships and interference with rights that Turkmen migrants in Türkiye experience in their daily lives when they become undocumented as a result of Turkmen authorities refusing to provide passport renewal services. Those who openly criticize or in the past have criticized the Turkmen government are at serious risk of deportation to Turkmenistan, where they face extreme repression, arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, and risk of torture.
"Turkmen authorities willfully expose their citizens to dire economic and social hardships abroad and pressure them to return to Turkmenistan," said Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Turkmenistan should immediately cease this practice and respect people's right to freedom of movement."
Human Rights Watch interviewed 17 Turkmen nationals permanently or temporarily living in Türkiye. THF shared with Human Rights Watch information from 40 interviews with Turkmen migrants living in Türkiye. Human Rights Watch also reviewed official data and statements published by the Turkmen and Turkish governments as well as reports by independent news outlets that do regular, reliable reporting on developments in Turkmenistan-a country with an extremely repressive government that is closed to most forms of independent human rights scrutiny-and on the situation for Turkmen migrants abroad.
Human Rights Watch and THF found that Turkmen authorities' refusal to renew passports of their citizens interfered with migrants' ability to obtain legal status in host countries, effectively undermining their access to employment and adequate work conditions, housing, health care, education for their children, and their ability to maintain family connections.
Turkmen consular officials told Turkmen citizens trying to apply for passport renewal that new passports can be issued or renewed only at their place of residence in Turkmenistan and failed to provide law-based grounds for such denials. In three instances documented, they also refused to issue birth certificates to Turkmen citizens' children born in Türkiye, similarly telling them to return to Turkmenistan and apply there.
Turkmenistan is a party to several human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, that protect freedom of movement (article 12) and other relevant rights.
The United Nations Human Rights Committee, the expert body that oversees interpretation of the covenant, has made clear that the right to freedom of movement "must include the right to obtain the necessary travel documents," and that a government cannot refuse "to issue a passport or prolong its validity for a national residing abroad" by saying "that its national would be able to return to its territory without a passport." The committee has found that decisions like those taken by Turkmenistan's authorities violate the covenant.
The refusal to renew passports and other vital documents abroad is apparently intended to pressure people to return to Turkmenistan and is a form of transnational repression, the groups said. Turkmenistan's government does not tolerate dissent. Turkmens who became activists or publicly criticized the government while abroad would face near-certain retaliatory persecution after returning to the country, including threat of arrest, imprisonment, torture, and other human rights violations. Others face arbitrary travel bans upon their voluntary return.
"I did not go back to Turkmenistan, because … I feared that if I went back there, I would be barred from leaving the country," one activist in Türkiye said. "My uncle went back to Turkmenistan in 2012, they [the uncle and his wife] were issued new passports by the migration authorities, but when they tried to leave Turkmenistan to return to Türkiye, they were not allowed."
Turkmenistan's government should ensure that Turkmen citizens living abroad have access to passport renewal services without returning to Turkmenistan, Human Rights Watch and THF said. Authorities should start issuing and replacing passports via respective diplomatic officials worldwide, without arbitrary requirements or undue restrictions.
Türkiye and other countries hosting Turkmen migrants should not deport or otherwise remove anyone to Turkmenistan who would be at risk of persecution, torture, or other serious harm upon return and should allow people expressing such fears to apply for asylum. They should also ensure that Turkmen migrants are not denied access to their economic and social rights because Turkmen authorities refuse to renew their passports abroad.
Turkmenistan's international partners should urge the Turkmen government to fulfill its obligation to ensure the right to freedom of movement of all Turkmen citizens, including by providing passports and other necessary documents. They should also support nongovernmental organizations that provide assistance and services to Turkmen migrants, especially in Türkiye, who were denied passport renewals.
"All Turkmens have the right to a passport, to renew it abroad, and to enjoy their social and economic rights in host countries," said Tadzhigul Begmedova, head of the Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. "The Turkmen government should ensure these rights are respected and immediately start accommodating Turkmen citizens' requests for passports and other essential documents via consular services abroad."
