Soviet Union: Information on whether it was the practice that a person's birth certificate was required to be returned to the state upon the person's death
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 February 1995 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | SUN19870.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Soviet Union: Information on whether it was the practice that a person's birth certificate was required to be returned to the state upon the person's death, 1 February 1995, SUN19870.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac7e4c.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The information in this Response to Information Request pertains to the Soviet Union prior to its dissolution in late 1991.
In a telephone interview on 21 February 1995, an official at the Embassy of Ukraine in Ottawa stated that no law required the relatives of a deceased person to return that person's birth certificate to the state. However, relatives of the deceased person occasionally did so on a voluntary basis.
In a telephone interview on 22 February 1995, a documentalist at the Ukrainian Information Centre, a nongovernmental human rights organization in Amsterdam, stated that the deceased person's relatives were required by law to take the deceased person's birth certificate to a special state agency. The documentalist stated that it was likely that this special state agency fell under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The documentalist added that he does not know the name of the specific law that referred to this requirement.
In a telephone interview on 23 February 1995, an official at the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Ottawa stated that he was unsure whether there had been a requirement obliging the relatives of a deceased person to return that person's birth certificate to the state. The official added that, in practice, relatives did not customarily return deceased persons' documents to the state.
This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Embassy of the Russian Federation, Ottawa. 23 February 1995. Telephone interview with official.
Embassy of Ukraine, Ottawa. 21 February 1995. Telephone interview with official.
Ukrainian Information Centre, Amsterdam. 22 February 1995. Telephone interview with documentalist.