Statelessness - Stateless Person

Stateless Person

A stateless person is someone who is "not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law". In other words, a stateless person has no citizenship or nationality. As a matter of international law, citizenship and nationality are congruous, although there may be differences between the two concepts in domestic law.

The causes of statelessness around the world are numerous. In most cases, there is an underlying issue of discrimination – usually on the basis of race or ethnicity, religion, or sex. In many cases, statelessness affects entire minority populations that have never been recognized as nationals of the state where they are habitually resident. Statelessness caused in part or whole by ethnic discrimination is often handed down from one generation to the next.

Conflict of nationality laws can be another cause of statelessness. Nationality is usually acquired through one of two modes: jus soli or jus sanguinis. Jus soli denotes a regime by which nationality is acquired through birth on the territory of the state. This is common in the Americas. Jus sanguinis on the other hand is a regime by which nationality is acquired from birth through descent – usually through a parent who is a national. Today, many states apply a combination of the two systems.

Although many states allow for acquisition of nationality through parental descent irrespective of where the child is born, many still do not allow their female citizens to confer nationality to their children. This may result in statelessness where the father is stateless, unknown, or otherwise unable to confer nationality. There have however been recent changes in favor of gender neutrality in nationality laws in some parts of the world. Moreover, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women prohibits sex discrimination in conferral of nationality.

An important measure to avoid statelessness at birth is to provide nationality to children born on the territory who would otherwise be stateless. This norm is stipulated in the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. It also appears in several regional human rights treaties, including the American Convention on Human Rights, the European Convention on Nationality, and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. This norm is implicit in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In some cases, statelessness is a consequence of state succession. Recent history has shown that some people have become stateless when their state of nationality ceased to exist, or when the territory on which they live came under the control of another state. This was the case when the Soviet Union disintegrated, and also in the cases of Yugoslavia and Ethiopia.

In rare cases, individuals may become stateless when renouncing their citizenship (e.g. "World Citizen" Garry Davis). People who subscribe to voluntaryist or agorist beliefs may desire or seek statelessness. However, many states do not allow citizens to renounce their nationality unless they acquire another one. However, consular officials are unlikely to be familiar with all citizenship laws of all countries, so there may still be situations where renunciation leads to statelessness.

A final cause of statelessness are non-state territories. As per the definition of a stateless person, only states can have nationals. As a result, people who are “citizens” of non-state territories are stateless. This includes, for instance, occupied territories where statehood has ceased to exist or never emerged in the first place. The Palestinian Territories is one example, but also Western Sahara, Northern Cyprus may be considered as such, depending on the interpretation of statehood and sovereignty.

While statelessness has existed for several centuries, the international community has only been concerned with its eradication since the mid-1900s. In 1954 the United Nations adopted the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, which provides a framework for protection of stateless persons. Seven years later, the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness was adopted, which contains provisions to prevent and reduce statelessness.

In addition, a range of regional and international human rights treaties guarantee a right to nationality, with special protections for certain groups including stateless persons. For examples, states bound by the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child are obligated to ensure that every child acquires a nationality. The Convention requires states to implement this provision in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless, and in a manner that is in the best interests of the child.

Not holding proof of nationality – or being “undocumented” – is not the same as being stateless. However, lack of key identity documents such as a birth certificate can lead to a risk of statelessness. Many millions of people live their entire lives without documents, without their nationality ever being questioned. Two factors are of particular importance: a. is the nationality in question acquired automatically or through some form of registration; and, b. has the person ever been denied documents on the basis that he or she is not a national. If nationality is acquired automatically, then the person is a national regardless of documentation status (although in practice the person may face problems accessing certain rights and services – not because he or she is stateless but because he or she is undocumented). If registration is required then the person is not a national until that has been completed. As a practical matter, the longer a person is undocumented, the greater the likelihood that he or she will end up in a situation where no state recognizes him or her as a national.

As per the definition of a stateless person, whether someone is stateless is ultimately a matter of the viewpoint of the state with respect to the individual or a group of people. In some cases the state makes its view clear and explicit. In other cases the viewpoint of the states is harder to discern. In those cases one may need to rely on prima facie evidence of the view of the state, which in turn may give rise to a presumption of statelessness.