Statelessness 789786 218783587 2008-06-12T03:58:26Z 218.208.52.17 /* Statelessness since 1961 */ added Malaysia as a country with significant Stateless person {{Mergefrom|Stateless person|Talk:Statelessness#Merging_"Stateless_person"_and_"Statelessness"|date=June 2007}} '''Statelessness''' is the [[legal]] and social concept of a person lacking belonging (or a legally enforceable claim) to any recognised [[nationality]]. Statelessness is not always the same as lack of [[citizenship]]. <!-- Comment --> '''De jure statelessness''' is where there exists no recognised [[state]] in respect of which the subject has a legally meritorious basis to claim nationality. '''De facto statelessness''' is where the subject may have a legally meritorious claim but is precluded from asserting it because of practical considerations such as cost, circumstances of civil disorder, or the fear of persecution. [[Image:Spanish Gypsy Girls NGM-v31-p267.jpg|thumb|175px|right|Spanish [[Gitanos|gypsy]] girls, [[1917]]. Statelessness characterises the existence of nomadic Gypsies]] ==Problems of statelessness== {{Prose|date=May 2008}} Common ways people may become [[stateless person|stateless]] and which are addressed by the [[1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness]] are: *Renunciation of nationality *Deprivation of nationality (e.g. for disloyalty, for [[treason]], for obtaining nationality by [[fraud]], or as a consequence of marriage or divorce) *Membership of a group which is denied citizen status in the country on whose territory they are born (e.g. [[Roma people|Gypsy]] and [[Jews]] in [[Nazi Germany|Third Reich Germany]] [1935-1945]) - see [[Nuremberg Laws]]) *Birth to [[stateless person]] parents *Birth in disputed territories *Birth in an area ruled by an entity whose independence is not internationally recognized (e.g. [[Manchukuo]] 1932-1945) *Birth on territory over which no modern state claims sovereignty (e.g. the unclaimed region of [[Antarctica]]) *By excessive fees and burdensome administrative and evidential requirements involved in claiming [[nationality]] *By the [[conflict of laws]] between two states (e.g. between the laws of the mother's nationality and those of the father's both working to deny either nationality by descent to the child) *Transfer of territory or [[sovereignty]] which alters [[nationality]] status of persons in the territories so transferred '''Statelessness''' creates problems for states and disadvantages for those left stateless, such as: *Frequently, diminished [[civil rights]] in comparison to the nationals of the states where they reside. This may be so despite the uplifting content and humanitarian purposes of the [[1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons]]. Stateless persons lacking [[identity document]]s may be treated as though they ''do not exist'' for administrative purposes by the various organs of the state. *A perception that stateless persons lack loyalty and commitment to their [[Residency (domicile)|country of residence]] *Lack of the ability to endow their children and close family member with a [[nationality]] *Inability, except through the [[UNHCR|United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees]], to avail themselves of consular services when outside their country of usual residence *No 'home' country to which they are guaranteed the unquestioned right of return *For states, '''statelessness''' frustrates [[deportation]] action, as there is no recipient country obliged to accept the stateless person so subjected Some advantages of statelessness: * The stateless person may avoid obligations of [[citizenship]], such as civil or military [[conscription]], compulsion to [[voting|vote]], and compulsion to render [[jury]] service. It is worth noting that many nations retain the right to conscript permanent residents, regardless of their nationality or lack thereof. [[Tax]]es also may still be assessed. * The status of stateless persons at least outranks that of an [[enemy alien]] in time of [[war]] ==Statelessness and refugees== '''Statelessness''' most commonly affects [[refugee]]s although not all refugees are stateless, and not all stateless persons may be able to qualify as refugees. Refugee status entails the extra requirements that the refugee is outside their country of [[nationality]] (or country of habitual residence if stateless), and is deserving of [[Right of asylum|asylum]] based upon a well-founded fear of persecution for categorized reasons which make him/her unwilling or unable to avail the protection of that country. ==Statelessness and children== Principle 3 of the [[1959]] [[Declaration of the Rights of the Child]] asserts that:<br /> <blockquote>"The child shall be entitled from his birth to a name and a [[nationality]]."</blockquote> [[States]] bound by the [[1989]] [[UN Convention on the Rights of the Child]] are obligated to implement policies and programs to ensure that children's families and national authorities can secure [[citizenship]] for every child in the country. In practice, when a child’s birth is not registered that child’s existence may not be acknowledged and the child ''may'' be denied citizenship. Some governing bodies refuse to recognize births — and therefore the existence and the nationality of some children - because of [[Race (classification of human beings)|race]], [[ethnicity]], or [[illegitimacy|questions of "legitimacy."]] Characteristics of '''statelessness''' affect [[Amerasian]] children and young adults in [[Southeast Asia]]. They are commonly fathered abroad by US servicemen and mothers of Asian nationalities. ==Statelessness and women== An attempt to reduce discrimination against women is made in the [[1957]] [[Convention on the Nationality of Married Women]] with its provisions to prevent the automatic acquisition of the husband's citizenship. It also intends to prevent women losing [[citizenship]] and becoming [[stateless]] if they marry a [[stateless person|stateless man]].<ref>[http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/w1cnmw.html Full Text of Convention on the Nationality of Married Women]</ref> ==Statelessness prior to World War II== [[Image:Theatre slave Louvre CA7249.jpg|thumb|150px|left|<sub>4th Century BCE Sicilian Impression of a Theatre [[slavery|Slave]]</sub>]] Statelessness characterised the status of [[slaves]] and inhabitants of conquered territories in the [[Greco-Roman]] world of [[classical antiquity|antiquity]]. In antiquity, statelessness could be seen to affect captive and subject populations denied full citizenship (see [[Roman Citizen]]) including those enslaved e.g. conquered populations excluded from Roman citizenship such as the [[Gauls]] immediately following the [[Gallic Wars]]; [[Israelites]] under [[Babylonian captivity]]. Characteristics of statelessness are seen amongst [[Apostasy in Islam|apostates]] and [[Islam and slavery|slaves in Islamic society]]; the former being persons shunned by or rejecting their tribal/national/ethno-religious birth identity, the latter being persons separated from that identity and subsumed into an [[underclass]] role. Statelessness has perennially characterised the existence of [[Roma People]] by virtue of their nomadic lifestyles over centuries of traversing lands claimed by others. The [[Nansen International Office for Refugees|Office International Nansen pour les Réfugiés]], was an organization of the [[League of Nations]], which was internationally in charge of [[refugees]] from war areas from [[1930]] to [[1939]]. It received the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in [[1938]]. Their [[Nansen passports]], designed in [[1922]] by founder [[Fridtjof Nansen]], were internationally recognized [[identity document|identity cards]] first issued by the [[League of Nations]] to [[refugees|stateless refugees]]. In [[1942]] they were honored by governments in 52 countries and were the first [[refugee]] [[travel document]]s.</br></br></br> ==UN Action addressing the problem of statelessness== [[Image:Unhcr1.gif|right|<sub> Logo of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which exercises special responsibilities in advocating on behalf of stateless persons worldwide]] The initial focus of UN Action was the sponsorship of Conventions in 1954 (the 'Status Convention') and 1961 (the 'Reduction Convention') resulting in instruments of [[international law]]. Continuing action through the [[UNHCR]] encourages member states to take up ratification and address statelessness within their own borders by programs of naturalisation and co-operation with neighbouring [[states]]. [[UNHCR]] also conducts public education campaigns to highlight the plight of stateless communities in special need. Outside of the UN, regional initiatives to address statelessness and its associated problems can be seen in [[multilateral treaty]] instruments such as the [[Council of Europe]] Convention on Reduction of Statelessness in Relation to State Succession. ===ECOSOC, The ILC, The 1951 Refugee Convention=== Migrations forced by political instability during [[World War II]] and its immediate aftermath highlighted the international dimension of the problems presented by unprecedented volumes of displaced persons including those rendered effectively stateless. Dating from December 1948 and with the imprimatur of the world communit acting through the [[United Nations]], the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] at Article 15 affirms that #Everyone has the right to a nationality. #No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality. </blockquote> In 1949, the [[International Law Commission]] included the topic "Nationality, ''including statelessness''" in its list of topics of international law provisionally selected for codification. At the behest of [[ECOSOC|the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)]] in [[1950]], that item was given priority. The Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees was done on 28 July 1951, later attracting the signatures of 145 State parties<sup>As of late January 2005</sup>.<ref>[http://www.unhcr.org.uk/press/press_releases2005/pr25Jan05.htm UNHCR in the UK - News and press<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The [[International Law Commission]] at its fifth session in 1953 produced both a Draft Convention on the ''Elimination'' of Future Statelessness, and a Draft Convention on the ''Reduction'' of Future Statelessness. [[ECOSOC]] approved both drafts. A [[1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons|Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons]] was signed in September 1954.<ref>http://www.unhcr.org/protect/PROTECTION/3bbb25729.pdf</ref> It was complemented by the '[[Statelessness Reduction Convention]]' seven years afterwards. ===Status Convention=== {{main|1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons}} The [[1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons|1954 Status Convention]] provided for the [[UNHCR]] to issue [[travel document]]s to stateless persons. It urged for stateless persons to be treated at least as fairly as [[Alien (law)|aliens]] and in some cases to be treated the same as [[nationals]] by Contracting States (e.g. in their access to the courts, their rights to movable property, their rights to [[intellectual property]]). It also acknowledged the problem of stateless seamen by urging that states should confer their [[citizenship]] on such people according to the flags of the vessels to which they are attached. [[Albert Einstein]] was a stateless person in the period 1896-1901. In [[1933]] he was affected by [[Nuremberg Laws|German race laws]] standing him down from his professorship. He renounced his [[German citizenship]], became a [[refugee]], and was granted [[Right of asylum|asylum]] in the [[USA]]. From [[1940]] until his death he enjoyed [[dual citizenship]] of [[Switzerland]] and the USA. ===Reduction Convention=== {{main|1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness}} The [[1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness|1961 Statelessness Reduction Convention]] was a significant aspirational achievement in working to eliminate the problem of statelessness, or at least the problems associated with it. The [[1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness|Reduction Convention]] is binding on those states that have [[ratification|ratified]] or [[accession|acceded]] to it and it also works to create norms and to codify and confirm principles of [[customary international law]] as they relate to [[nationality law]] existing at the time of its formation. Among these would be: * States have absolute [[sovereignty]] to confer their [[nationality]] on any person for any reason * Otherwise stateless persons may avail [[jus soli|birthright citizenship]] of the place of their birth (or of the place where they were found, in the case of a [[foundling]]), otherwise they may take the [[jus sanguinis|nationality of one of their parents]] or that of another Contracting State in which they have resided for a qualifying period * An otherwise stateless person [[legitimacy (law)|born in wedlock]] shall have the right to take the nationality of their mother * A stateless person has some time beyond attaining adulthood to seek to claim the benefit of the [[1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness|Convention]]. That time is always at least three years from the age of eighteen. * The benefit of the [[1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness|Convention]] may be claimed by [[legal guardians|guardians]] on behalf of their [[ward (law)|wards]]. * States may impose a period of residence qualification for granting nationality to persons who may be otherwise [[stateless]]. That period is a maximum five years immediately prior to application and maximum of ten years overall. * Disloyal or serious [[criminal]] conduct my limit an individual's ability to avail the benefit of the [[1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness|Convention]] * [[birth aboard aircraft and ships|Birth on a sea vessel or aircraft]] presumptively attacts the nationality of the flag of that vessel or craft for an otherwise stateless person * Overtaking of territory by states presumptively confers the nationality of the overtaking state on the inhabitants of the territory. States must work together in treaty relations to eliminate the possibility of statelessness occurring by the [[cession]] of territories to each other. ==Statelessness since 1961== [[1961]] marks the year from which the [[UN]] proposed to exercise a mandate over stateless persons beyond the production of [[travel document]]s upon request for them. In [[1974]], the [[UN General Assembly]] requested the [[UNHCR]] to undertake the functions foreseen under the [[1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness|Reduction Convention]]. On 13 December [[1975]], the [[1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness|1961 Convention]] entered into force. There is a poor level of uptake, with only 35 state [[ratification]]s or [[accession]]s in the period to February [[2007]]. In [[1995]], the UNHCR Executive Committee(ExCom) and the [[United Nations General Assembly]] (UNGA) requested [[UNHCR]] to broaden its activities concerning statelessness to include ''all'' states. The office was also asked to gather and share information on the problem of statelessness globally, to train staff and government officials, and to regularly report back to the ExCom. In [[1996]] [[UNHCR]] was asked by the [[United Nations General Assembly|UNGA]] to actively promote [[accession]] to the [[1954]] and the [[1961]] Conventions, as well as to provide relevant technical and advisory services pertaining to the preparation and implementation of [[nationality]] legislation to interested states. Regional instruments, such as the [[1997 European Convention on Nationality]], have also contributed to protecting the rights of stateless persons. That document underlines the need of every person to have a nationality, and seeks to clarify the rights and responsibilities of states in ensuring individual access to a nationality. The [[UNHCR]] has achieved some success in launching campaigns to prevent and reduce statelessness among formerly [[deportation|deported]] peoples in Crimea, [[Ukraine]] ([[Armenians]], [[Crimean Tatars]], [[Germans]], and [[Greeks]] who were [[deportation|deported]] en masse at the close of [[World War II]]).<ref>http://www.unhcr.org/research/RESEARCH/405ab4c74.pdf</ref> Another success has been the [[naturalization]] of [[Tajik]] [[refugees]] in [[Kyrgyzstan]], as well as the participation in [[citizenship]] campaigns enabling 300,000 [[Estate Tamils of Sri Lanka|Estate Tamils]] to acquire [[citizenship]] of [[Sri Lanka]]. The [[UNHCR]] also assisted the [[Czech Republic]] to overcome the large number of stateless persons created when it separated from [[Slovakia]]. An internal evaluation released in [[2001]] suggested that [[UNHCR]] had done little to exercise its mandate on statelessness. Only two individuals were tasked with overseeing work in that area at [[UNHCR]] headquarters, though field officers had been trained to address the issue. There was no dedicated budget line. Concerned organisations such as Refugees International have advocated for the appointment of a permanent UN Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Statelessness<ref>[http://www.refugeesinternational.org/section/publications/stateless_conc/ Refugees International: Publications: Stateless Report<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In [[2004]], ExCom invited [[UNHCR]] to pay particular attention to situations of protracted statelessness and explore with [[states]] measures that would ameliorate the situations and bring them to an end. At the beginning of [[2006]] the [[UNHCR]] claimed to have 'on its books' 2.4 million stateless persons, and made an estimate of 11 million as the size of the stateless population worldwide.<ref>[http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/basics/opendoc.htm?tbl=BASICS&id=3b028097c UNHCR - Refugees by Numbers 2006 edition<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The greatest populations (over 100,000) of stateless persons are seen to be in the [[Dominican Republic]], [[Ivory Coast]], [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|Congo]], [[Syria]], [[Iraq]], [[Latvia]] and [[Estonia]], [[Nepal]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Burma]], [[Thailand]], [[Cambodia]] and [[Malaysia]]. Statelessness is adjudged to be least significant in [[North America]], [[Oceania]], [[North Africa]], [[Southern Africa]], most of [[South America]], and [[China]].<ref>[http://www.unhcr.org/publ/PUBL/4538c8074.pdf UNCHR, Stateless Persons and Populations at Risk of Statelessness]</ref> [[Palestinian people|Palestinians]] comprise the largest stateless population in the world.<ref name=Akram>{{cite web|title=Stateless Limbo|author=Susan Akram|publisher=[[Al-Ahram]] Weekly|date=|accessdate=21 - 27 August 2003|accessdate=2007-09-15|url=http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/652/re5.htm}}</ref> Abbas Shiblak Shiblak estimates that over half of the Palestinian people in the world are stateless.<ref name=Shiblak>{{cite journal|title=Reflections on the Palestinian Diaspora in Europe|author=Abbas Shiblak|journal=''The Palestinian Diaspora in Europe: Challenges of Dual Identity and Adaptation''|publisher=Institute of Jerusalem Studies|isbn=9950315042|date=2005|url=http://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/PDFs/Shiblak.pdf}}</ref> == Famous stateless individuals == {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} * [[John Demjanjuk]], accused of being a guard at an [[extermination camp]] during [[World War II]]. * [[Mehran Karimi Nasseri]], inspiration for ''[[The Terminal]]''. ==References== {{reflist}} ==See also== *[[Stateless person]] *[[UNHCR]] *[[1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons]] *[[1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness]] *[[Bidun]] *[[Non-citizens (Latvia)]] *[[Citizenship]] *[[Nationality]] *[[Office international Nansen pour les réfugiés]] *[[Refugees]] and [[Refugee Law]] ==External links== *[http://untreaty.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/6_1_1961.pdf Full Convention text of 1961 Convention] *[http://www.unhcr.org/protect/PROTECTION/41b4790b4.pdf Map showing State Parties to 1961 Convention] *[http://www.unhcr.org/protect/PROTECTION/45178f542.pdf Council of Europe Convention on Reduction of Statelessness in Relation to State Succession] *[http://www.unhcr.org/publ/PUBL/4538c8074.pdf] UNHCR Map (21 August 2006) Stateless Persons and Populations at Risk of Statelessness *[http://www.refugeesinternational.org/section/publications/stateless_review/ Refugees International 'Global Review of Statelessness'] ===Further reading=== *[http://www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/FMR26/FMR2603.pdf Stateless Palestinans] *[http://www.state.gov/g/prm/rls/45288.htm Report describing US contributions to the resettlement of stateless populations in FY2004 and FY2005] [[Category:International law]] [[Category:Immigration law]]