All OSCE participating States have committed themselves to respect the internationally recognized human rights to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state as well as to leave any country, including one’s own.   In the 1990 Copenhagen Document on the Human Dimension, they also affirmed that “freer contacts among their citizens are important in the context of the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms.” 

Since the collapse of communism in the early 1990s, Soviet-era propiska regulations permitting a person to reside only in a specific area have been recognized as one of the main obstacles to the right of individuals to move freely within their own countries and to choose their place of residence.

In the last decade, ODIHR has provided support to many OSCE participating States in reforming propiska systems by assisting in the development of legal and other instruments that ensure freedom of movement and free choice of place of residence. In particular, the OSCE has provided assistance in amending relevant legislation in order to develop residency registration systems that guarantee people the right to choose their place of residence.

However, many national registration systems still retain administrative frameworks that impose preconditions to registering in a certain place. In many cases, internal labour migrants moving from rural areas to cities cannot meet these conditions. If migrants fail to register, this can lead to the denial of social services, impede their access to jobs, and create obstacles to their participation in elections.

ODIHR offers expertise to participating States for the development and implementation of legal and regulatory frameworks for population registration that respect the right to freedom of movement and free choice of place of residence.

In response to requests for expertise and policy advice from participating States, ODIHR published Guidelines on Population Registration. These guidelines provide a tool for practitioners, relevant authorities, and political decision-makers in OSCE participating States when assessing the efficiency of their national systems of population registration and, when necessary, reforming them.