Statelessness and Citizenship Law

The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness is the primary international legal instrument that defines statelessness and establishes a framework for preventing and reducing statelessness.

According to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, statelessness is defined as a situation where a person is not considered a national of any state under the operation of its law.

Statelessness can be caused by a variety of factors, including discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, or gender; state succession and boundary changes; denial of citizenship by a state; and loss of citizenship due to marriage or adoption.

Statelessness can have a devastating impact on individuals, leading to difficulty in accessing basic services such as education, healthcare, and employment; increased risk of poverty and social exclusion; limited freedom of movement and travel; and increased vulnerability to human rights abuses.

Under international law, states have a number of obligations to prevent and reduce statelessness, including the obligation to refrain from creating new cases of statelessness, to provide effective nationality laws that prevent statelessness, to facilitate the acquisition of citizenship by stateless individuals, and to protect the rights of stateless individuals.

Citizenship is a legal status that grants a person the rights and responsibilities of a citizen of a particular state, while nationality is a legal status that determines a person's connection to a particular state.

There are a number of ways to acquire citizenship, including by birth, by descent, by naturalization, and by marriage.

To become a naturalized citizen of the United States, an individual must meet a number of requirements, including being at least 18 years old, having resided in the United States for at least 5 years, being able to read, write, and speak English, and having a good moral character.

Citizenship confers a number of benefits, including the right to vote, the right to hold public office, the right to travel freely, and the right to access social welfare benefits.

Citizens have a number of responsibilities, including the responsibility to obey the laws of the state, to pay taxes, to serve on juries, and to defend the state.

Refugees are people who have been forced to flee their country due to persecution, while stateless persons are people who do not have a nationality.

The UNHCR plays a key role in addressing statelessness by promoting the prevention and reduction of statelessness, providing protection and assistance to stateless persons, advocating for the rights of stateless persons, and facilitating the acquisition of citizenship by stateless persons.

The Global Action Plan to End Statelessness is a global initiative launched by the UNHCR in 2014 to end statelessness by 2024.

Since the launch of the Global Action Plan to End Statelessness in 2014, there has been progress in reducing statelessness, including a decrease in the number of stateless persons, an increase in the number of countries that have acceded to the relevant international conventions, and an increase in the number of countries that have adopted laws and policies to prevent and reduce statelessness.

Despite the progress that has been made in reducing statelessness, there are still a number of challenges that remain in achieving the goal of ending statelessness by 2024, including discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, or gender; state succession and boundary changes; denial of citizenship by states; and loss of citizenship due to marriage or adoption.