Four years after the launch of a decade-long campaign to eradicate statelessness globally, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, called today on states to take faster and more resolute action to help meet the campaign goal.
Important results have been achieved since November 2014 when UNHCR’s #IBelong campaign began. More than 166,000 stateless people have acquired or had their nationality confirmed, 20 states have acceded to the Statelessness Conventions bringing the total number of parties to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons to 91 and 73 to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Nine states have established or improved statelessness determination procedures, six states reformed their nationality laws and another two have eliminated gender discrimination preventing women from passing on their nationality to their children. National plans to end statelessness have been formally adopted in nine countries.
Yet, despite these accomplishments, millions remain stateless and living in limbo around the world, with the majority to be found in countries in Asia and Africa. It is difficult to determine with precision how many people are stateless or at risk of statelessness worldwide. In 2017, approximately 70 countries reported 3.9 million stateless individuals. But UNHCR estimates that this is only a fraction of the total – the true number could be as much as three times higher.
“Today I call on politicians, governments and legislators around the world to act now, to take and support decisive action to eliminate statelessness globally by 2024,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. “Humanly, ethically and politically it is the right thing to do. Every person on this planet has the right to nationality and the right to say I BELONG.”
Statelessness has many causes, but the biggest driver is problems in nationality laws, including discrimination. The impact on individuals and their families is immediate and can be dire. Statelessness means a life without a nationality and everything that comes with it. Being stateless can mean a life without education, without medical care, or legal employment. It can mean a life without the ability to get married, own a home, to move freely – a life on the margins of society, without prospects, or hope.
“Stateless people still face huge barriers to exercising fundamental human rights”, Grandi said. “Eradicating statelessness requires eliminating discrimination from nationality laws and practices. States like Kenya, Kyrgyzstan and Thailand are paving the way, showing that with political will and commitment, and concerted national efforts, the lives of tens of thousands of people can be transformed through the acquisition of nationality.”
In almost every region of the world, a declaration and action plan to address statelessness has been launched. These regional initiatives are driving blocs of nations to work with each other to confront and resolve this human rights problem. Among the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 16 is the elimination of statelessness – with its goal of ensuring legal identity for all by 2030.
In Serbia, the Government, authorities and experts already marked the fourth anniversary of the #IBelong campaign at a conference “Combating Statelessness in Serbia – Achievements and the Way Forward” organized by the UN Refugee Agency on 2 November in Belgrade https://bit.ly/2RNUYWH
The Conference commended the excellent progress the country has made in reducing and preventing statelessness and confirmed continued commitment to resolve outstanding challenges to completely eradicate the occurrence and recurrence of statelessness in Serbia.
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