WHAT IS STATELESSNESS? 

People are stateless when they are “not considered a national by any State under the operation of its law” (Article 1(1), 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons). In other words, a stateless person does not have a nationality or citizenship in any country around the world. Without formal citizenship, stateless people do not have protection and access to fundamental rights and essential services, as someone with a nationality would. For example, stateless people may lack access to healthcare, housing, employment, education, and social welfare. Existing within this limbo means that they are often excluded from having a bank account, owning property, travel, and cannot participate in politics. Without a nationality, stateless people often face marginalization, exclusion, and instability.

According to  Article 15 of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “Everyone has a right to a nationality” and “No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality”. Yet still, over 10 million people are considered stateless around the world today.

WHO IS STATELESS? 

Some people are stateless at birth or become stateless later in life. For instance, people are often born stateless because of gender discrimination. In over 25 countries, mothers cannot pass their citizenship onto their children, meaning children whose fathers are missing, deceased - or stateless themselves remain - without a nationality. Many people become stateless because a state refuses to recognize minority groups. Gaps in nationality laws can also account for statelessness, for example, when states do not account for children born in a third country where neither of their parents holds citizenship. The redrawing of borders or dissolution/emergence of states can also lead to a lack of recognition of nationality, and consequently, statelessness.   

The term ‘stateless’ is often confused with displacement, but they are different terms. While some refugees are also stateless, this is not always the case. Many refugees have a recognized nationality, and many stateless people live in the place they were born and consider to be their homes.