Statelessness: Who is stateless?


Nationality is a legal bond between a State and an individual, and statelessness refers to the condition of an individual who is not considered as a national by any State under its domestic law. Although stateless people may sometimes also be refugees, the two categories are distinct and both groups are of concern to UNHCR.

Statelessness occurs for a variety of reasons including discrimination against minority groups in nationality legislation, failure to include all residents in the body of citizens when a State become independent (State succession) and conflicts of laws between states.

Statelessness is a massive problem that affects an estimated 15 million people in at least 60 developed and developing countries. Statelessness also has a terrible impact on the lives of individuals. Possession of nationality is essential for full participation in society and a prerequisite for the enjoyment of the full range of human rights. While human rights are generally to be enjoyed by everyone, rights such as the right to vote and the unrestricted right to enter and reside in a State may be limited to nationals. Of even greater concern is that many more rights of stateless persons are violated in practice: they may be detained for the sole reason that they are stateless, denied access to education and health services, or blocked from obtaining employment.

Yet the problem can be prevented through adequate nationality legislation. UNHCR has been given a mandate to work with governments to prevent statelessness from occurring, to resolve those cases that do occur and to protect the rights of Stateless persons.