ASTANA -- Kazakh authorities have found more than 15,000 Kazakhs in violation of the country's dual citizenship laws, Interior Minister Kalmukhanbet Kassymov told parliament Wednesday (December 12), according to local media.
He did not specify the time frame in which authorities found the violators.
Kazakhs may not hold dual citizenship.
Among the more than 15,000 violators, Kazakhstan prosecuted 550 -- deporting 102 and fining the others.
The pattern consists of Kazakhs who move to Russia and obtain citizenship there, he said, according to Almaty TV. Those Kazakhs "return home with Kazakh passports, quietly receive their pensions here and use other social services", he said.
Authorities detect such violators through social welfare agencies and the border guard, he said.
Kassymov made his remarks as the lower chamber of parliament ratified a Kazakh-Tajik agreement on co-operation in immigration policy, according to Total.kz.
