UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is urging Governments worldwide to pay urgent attention to the plight of millions of stateless people and to follow a set of recommendations the organization has issued today to ensure their coverage in the COVID-19 response.
“Millions of people around the world are denied a nationality and the legal rights endowed with it. They do not exist on paper and most often live on the fringes of society. Our worry is that at such a critical time, in the middle of a global pandemic, they now are at great risk of being left behind in the response,” said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
Without citizenship, stateless people often do not have access to essential services, including health care, and now may also be precluded from or face obstacles in accessing coronavirus testing and treatment. Others may refrain from accessing services for fear that their legal status can put them at risk of detention or deportation.
“We must repeat that exclusion does not benefit anyone, least of all the global effort to contain the virus. The pandemic can only be beaten if everyone, regardless of their legal status, is included in the response. Nobody can be protected unless everybody is included, and that means including often invisible, stateless populations,” said Grandi.
Some 3.9 million stateless people appear in the reporting of 78 countries but the true number is likely to be far greater. Without legal rights and access to services, statelessness leaves many politically and economically marginalized, discriminated against and vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
In many countries across the world, stateless people live in sub-standard and inadequate sanitary conditions which can compound the risk of outbreaks. Limited by their legal status, many work in informal sectors, which can also hamper adherence to public health protocols such as self-isolation and physical distancing.
Most persons at risk of statelessness in the Republic of Serbia, belong to the Roma ethnic minority, many of whom fled KiM. Those living in informal settlements or unofficial collective centres faced extra challenges in observing the recommendations of the health experts. Many also lost their, however limited, means of income due to movement restrictions.
Persons at risk of statelessness in Serbia, who lack documentation or cannot register permanent residence in the places where they actually live, remain invisible to the system and can too often not access public assistance, services or welfare. UNHCR partners swiftly provided humanitarian assistance, intervened in cases where authorities discriminated against them, and called on independent State bodies to ensure that citizens lacking documents or registration are not left behind in local and national COVID-19 prevention or recovery efforts.
Authorities should also adopt and implement special measures not to exclude needy citizens from equal access to state financial assistance, just because they lack ID cards. The UN Refugee Agency continues supporting Serbia in its efforts to reduce statelessness and to pro-actively protect the health and rights of persons at risk of statelessness especially in its current COVID-19 response.
In some countries, considerable numbers of stateless people are also being held in prolonged pre-removal detention on the basis that they are not considered as legal residents and there is no country to deport them to. In addition to the violation of their right to liberty, they now face the prospect of increased risk of infection, as doctors and medical associations around the world have raised concerns about the potential of COVID-19 to spread within these centers.
UNHCR is also concerned about the potential for mitigation and response measures to fuel xenophobia and discrimination for those perceived to be at risk of contagion, given a majority of the world’s known stateless population belong to minority groups and are particularly vulnerable to discrimination.
“This virus is exposing both the devastating consequences of statelessness and the urgency of the need to resolve it. The right to a nationality is a fundamental human right and in this time of crisis it can mean the difference between life or death,” said Grandi.
To ensure the protection and inclusion of stateless people in the public health response, UNHCR has issued guidance on policy and good practices. Some of these recommendations include:
A full list of recommendations is available here: www.refworld.org/docid/5eb2a72f4.html
This Press Release is available here
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