Statement by Ph.D. Usen SULEIMEN, Director of “National Endowment for Prosperity” Fund, the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Plenary Session 7

Tolerance and Non-Discrimination (Rights of National Minorities; Roma and Sinti Issues)

Kazakhstan is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world. More than 100 ethnic groups live together in peace and mutual respect. Over 1000 ethnocultural associations are active nationwide, and 52 ethnic media outlets publish in 15 languages.

Representatives of more than 50 ethnic groups work in the civil service, with around 40 groups – over 1500 individuals – holding leadership positions.

Interethnic relations remain stable and harmonious. In the first half of 2025, over 95% of respondents described interethnic relations in Kazakhstan as positive.

Discrimination on the basis of nationality or ethnicity is strictly prohibited. Schools offer multilingual education, allowing ethnic groups to preserve their language and culture. The Language Policy Concept for 2023-2029 provides further support for minority languages.

Kazakhstan does not allow segregation. Children from ethnic minorities have equal access to education, healthcare services are provided without discrimination, and housing and social benefits are available on equal terms for all citizens.

For more than 30 years, the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan has played a key role in ensuring the participation of ethnic minorities in public life.

Incitement to ethnic, social, or religious hatred constitutes a criminal offense. Kazakhstan will continue its balanced and inclusive non-discrimination policy, based on constitutional guarantees and societal harmony.

Roma and Sinti

The Roma population in Kazakhstan is approximately 4400 people, representing less than 0,03% of the total population.

Roma ethnocultural associations operate within the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, including the Roma Association in Almaty (established in 2010) and the Gypsy Diaspora in the Aktobe region (established in 2011).



Reference Information

Article 174 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Article 174 of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan (“Incitement of social, national, tribal, racial, class, or religious hatred”) is aimed at protecting public security and preventing interethnic conflicts.

In June 2020, amendments were introduced: the wording was updated by replacing the term “instigation” with “incitement”, the elements of the offense were clarified, and a more differentiated system of penalties was established. This includes fines of up to 7000 Monthly Calculation Index (MCI) units, which is approximately 25 million KZT.

In practice, courts predominantly impose restrictions of liberty or suspended imprisonment, with more severe penalties applied infrequently.

In 2024, 91 criminal cases were registered under Article 174; 36 cases (39%) were closed due to the absence of intent to incite hatred.

Number of criminal cases registered under Article 174:

• 2022 – 46 cases
• 2023 – 84 cases
• 2024 – 91 cases

Between 2022 and 2024, the number of cases increased from 46 to 91, indicating enhanced monitoring and response by law enforcement authorities to such incidents.



Kordai Events (2020)

On 7-8 February 2020, in the Kordai district of Zhambyl region, two unrelated domestic incidents escalated into mass unrest involving ethnic Kazakhs and Dungans (around 1000 people).

As a result, 11 people were killed, and the property of 778 families was damaged, including 39 houses, 20 shops, and 47 vehicles.

The government has since provided a comprehensive political and legal assessment, identified the causes of the conflict, and undertaken extensive post-conflict measures, including informing the international community.

A total of 128 pre-trial investigations were initiated. 80 court hearings were held, and 61 individuals (47 Kazakhs, 13 Dungans, and 1 Kyrgyz) were found guilty and sentenced to various criminal penalties.

The state ensured full access to all legal remedies. Over 30 billion KZT was allocated for reconstruction. Damaged residential and commercial buildings were restored, and compensation was paid to affected households.

These measures contributed to restoring interethnic harmony and stabilizing the situation within the Dungan community.


Language Policy and Education

In 2024, more than 14000 children received instruction in their native languages in kindergartens and weekend schools.

For preschool children, education is provided:

• in Uyghur – in 12 preschool institutions in the Zhetysu and Almaty regions;
• in Uzbek – in 5 preschool institutions in the Turkistan region.
• In the 2022-2023 academic year, there were 6909 schools in total (2020 – 6957; 2021 – 6941), including:
• 3 743 (54,2%) with instruction in Kazakh,
• 055 (15,3%) in Russian,
• 2 106 (30,5%) with mixed-language instruction,
• 5 (0,07%) in Uyghur.
• A total of 3 484139 students were enrolled:
• 2 307 960 (66,2%) in Kazakh,
• 1 077 915 (31%) in Russian,
• 98 264 (2,8%) in other languages.

(For comparison: in the 2020–2021 academic year, 3,368,702 students were enrolled: 66% in Kazakh, 30.9% in Russian, and 3.1% in Uyghur, Uzbek and Tajik).

Tajik-language education is provided in 11 mixed-language schools in Turkistan region, where Tajik is taught as a subject. Following meetings in 2023-2024 between the Ministry of Education of Kazakhstan and the Ambassador of Tajikistan, a working group was created to translate Kazakh school textbooks into Tajik for ethnic Tajik citizens of Kazakhstan.

Uzbek-language education is provided in 141 schools in Turkistan region and Shymkent. Uyghur-language education is offered in 6 bilingual schools in Almaty and Almaty region.