Statelessness and Human Rights

Statelessness is the condition of being without a nationality. This can occur for a variety of reasons, such as being born to stateless parents, being stripped of one's nationality, or being unable to acquire a nationality due to discrimination or other factors.

Stateless people are denied basic rights such as the right to life, liberty, and security. They are often discriminated against and denied access to essential services such as education, healthcare, and employment. Stateless people are also at risk of arbitrary detention, deportation, and exploitation.

The legal framework for addressing statelessness includes the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These instruments set out the rights of stateless persons and the obligations of states to prevent and reduce statelessness.

There are a number of challenges to addressing statelessness, including the lack of political will to address the issue, the difficulty of identifying stateless persons, and the lack of resources to provide stateless persons with the necessary assistance.

To address statelessness, states should ratify and implement the relevant international conventions, establish procedures for identifying and documenting stateless persons, and provide stateless persons with access to essential services.

UNHCR is the lead UN agency responsible for addressing statelessness. UNHCR provides technical assistance to states on statelessness issues, advocates for the rights of stateless persons, and works to find durable solutions for statelessness.

The #IBelong Campaign is a global campaign to end statelessness by 2024. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the issue of statelessness, advocate for the rights of stateless persons, and work with states to find durable solutions for statelessness.

Refugees have fled their country of origin due to persecution or conflict, while stateless persons have no nationality. Refugees have a well-founded fear of persecution, while stateless persons do not. Refugees are entitled to international protection, while stateless persons are not.

According to the UNHCR, there are an estimated 15 million stateless persons in the world.

Myanmar, Ivory Coast, and Thailand have the largest stateless populations in the world.

Discrimination, conflict, and state succession are all major causes of statelessness.

Stateless persons are denied basic rights, often discriminated against, and at risk of arbitrary detention and deportation.

To prevent statelessness, states should ratify and implement the relevant international conventions, establish procedures for identifying and documenting stateless persons, and provide stateless persons with access to essential services.

To resolve statelessness, states should grant nationality to stateless persons, facilitate the naturalization of stateless persons, and provide stateless persons with travel documents.

Statelessness is a problem that can be solved. With the cooperation of states and the international community, statelessness can be ended.