The
Global Problem of Statelessness
The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserts that “everyone has the right to a
nationality.” Nevertheless, statelessness remains a reality in all regions of the
world. While the exact
numbers are not known, a conservative estimate suggests there are no fewer than 11
million stateless persons around
the world. Stateless
peoples include recognizable
groups like some of Europe’s Roma, numbers of Palestinians and Kurds, and groups whose plight is
less known, such as people
from the former Soviet bloc, some of Thailand’s ethnic groups, the Bhutanese in Nepal, Muslim
minorities in Burma and Sri
Lanka, and ethnic minorities of the Great Lakes region of Africa including the Batwa “Pygmy”
and the Banyamulenge. Causes
of statelessness include, but are not limited to, political upheaval, targeted discrimination
(often for reasons of race or
ethnicity), differences in laws between countries, laws relating to marriage and birth registration,
expulsion of a people from a
territory, nationality based on descent (usually that of the father), abandonment, and lack of means
to register children.
Since sovereign states have the right to determine the procedures and conditions for
acquisition and termination of
citizenship,
statelessness and disputed
nationality can only be
addressed by the very governments that regularly breach norms of protection and citizenship. However
to date, only 57 states are
party to the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, and even fewer, just 29
states, are party to the
1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Given the U.S. emphasis on promoting democracy,
signing the conventions
would help protect rights and increase pressure on other governments to offer citizenship and
voting rights to millions of
people.
Despite its mandate and notable success in helping reduce this problem, only two staff members in
the office of the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are specifically employed to focus on helping the
world’s stateless people. “The
problem is so severe that there is no region that has not faced it,” reported Carol
Batchelor, former Senior Legal Officer for Statelessness of the UNHCR. Stateless
persons can fall into any of
the agency’s four reporting categories: refugees, asylum seekers, internally
displaced persons and “others of concern.
Non-citizens may be
identified as such by the 1954 Convention, but for political reasons they are not
called as such. “And,” Ms.
Batchelor adds, “That is just the tip of the iceberg.”
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