Stateless people
Stateless people
UNHCR advocates for their rights and works to prevent and end statelessness globally.
What is statelessness?
Millions of people around the world are denied the right to a nationality, leaving them stateless. As a result, they may be unable to access other basic rights and services, such as being able to go to school, work legally, access health care or get married. They are also often at a higher risk of exploitation and abuse.
UNHCR’s statistical reporting counts 4.4 million stateless people. Given that most countries do not report statelessness data, the actual figure is believed to be substantially higher. Stateless people can be found in almost every country and in all regions of the world, and most live in the same country in which they were born.
Stateless people face a lifetime of missed opportunities and disappointment.
When they are born, their parents may not be able to register their birth, obtain a birth certificate or other legal identity documents. Without this, they often cannot be enrolled in school. If they do manage to enter school and receive an education, they may be barred from sitting formal exams to progress or enter university, unless they can prove their legal identity.
As an adult, they may not be allowed to work legally, leaving them at an increased risk of exploitation and abuse as they take low-paying and informal jobs. They often cannot access public services, like health care and must rely on costly private clinics. They also frequently cannot open a bank account, vote, get a passport to travel, buy a home or even get married.
Stateless people cannot confer a nationality on their children. If the child is unable to obtain a nationality through the other parent or from the country of birth, they will also end up stateless, perpetuating statelessness across generations.
Stateless definition and meaning
- 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (Article 1)
What is the difference between a stateless person and a refugee?
A stateless person is not considered a national of any country. A refugee is someone who has fled their country to escape conflict or persecution and has crossed an international border. While most refugees have a nationality, a person can be both stateless and a refugee. However, the majority of stateless people live within the country in which they were born and have never crossed an international border. UNHCR works to protect both stateless people and refugees.
