News
The 1961 Statelessness Convention: 60 years of promoting and protecting the right to a nationality
Ensuring the right to a nationality and eradicating statelessness is achievable and more pressing than ever, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, stressed today, as the international community marks the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the 1961 UN Convention on the...
UNHCR welcomes Togo’s decision to intensify its fight against statelessness
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, applauds Togo’s accession to the two UN Conventions on Statelessness.
UNHCR warns of vaccine gap risk for world’s stateless
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is warning today that many of the world’s stateless people may miss out on vaccinations as a result of their lack of citizenship or proof of identity.
UNHCR welcomes Iceland’s decision to join global efforts to end statelessness
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes Iceland’s accession to the United Nations Statelessness Conventions, key international treaties to counter statelessness.
UNHCR welcomes Turkmenistan’s decision to grant citizenship to 2,580 stateless people
In a significant step to end statelessness on its territory, Turkmenistan has granted citizenship to 2,580 people, following issuance of a Presidential Decree on the subject this month.
UNHCR applauds Kenya’s decision to resolve the statelessness of the Shona and other communities
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes the Government of Kenya’s decision to grant citizenship to 1,670 stateless Shona and 1,300 stateless persons of Rwandan descent who qualify under the law as Kenyan citizens. “This is a life-changing development for thousands of...
75,000 children in Iran to gain nationality under new law
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s move to give nationality to thousands of children born to Iranian mothers and non-Iranian fathers. According to the Government of Iran, nearly 75,000 children at risk of becoming...
UNHCR urges states to end limbo for stateless people by 2024
11 Nov. 2020 - COVID-19 is worsening the plight of millions of stateless people worldwide, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi warned today. Marking the sixth anniversary of UNHCR’s #IBelong Campaign, aimed at ending statelessness by 2024, Grandi called...
UNHCR welcomes Dominican Republic move on citizenship
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes a decision by the Dominican Republic to allow the naturalization of around 750 people born and raised in the country who were previously deprived of citizenship due to the immigration status of their parents.
Côte d’Ivoire adopts Africa’s first legal process to identify and protect stateless people
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes Côte d’Ivoire’s adoption this week of Africa’s first Statelessness Determination Procedure. This will help protect thousands of people in the country who are without a nationality.
More progress on statelessness in Central Asia as Turkmenistan becomes latest country to champion universal birth registration
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes a new law in Turkmenistan which will help ensure that all children born in the country will have their births registered. The Law on Civil Status Acts, which entered in to force in July, will help prevent new cases of...
UNHCR welcomes new Ukrainian statelessness law set to end legal limbo for thousands
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes a new statelessness law in Ukraine which came into effect this week. The law will give thousands of people who lack a nationality a chance to work legally, study and access healthcare among other rights and opportunities, and...