Global Voices
Between 4.4–10
million people are considered stateless worldwide today. This means they are
“not considered as nationals by any State under the operation of its law,”
according to the official definition of the United Nations Refugee Agency.
People can become stateless in a variety of ways. Nina Murray, head of policy
and research at the European Statelessness Network (ENS), explained to Civio:
Many stateless people come from states that have
disappeared. Or they have been displaced from their homes by war or for other
reasons. Others have no nationality, because of gaps in the laws of their
country of birth: they may be the children of stateless persons or of people
whose countries do not recognise as citizens the children born to their
citizens abroad. Some people are stateless because the country where they live
does not recognise their country of origin as a state, as in much of the European
Union (EU) for people from Palestine or Western Sahara.
While Article
15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “everyone has the
right to a nationality and that no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his
nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality,” millions are still
facing statelessness. Some become stateless due to geopolitical circumstances,
while others are born into it and denied rights and freedoms that come with
nationhood.
This status can
limit their ability to get a job, go to school, seek medical assistance, access
state resources or financial institutions, get married, and travel freely,
among other things.
Some of the
biggest crises around statelessness have unfolded due to civil wars and
persecution, such as that of the Rohingya population in Myanmar, who have been
facing persecution for years and have been forced to flee to neighboring
countries. As these refugees flee to neighboring countries, this often leads to
population booms, which puts a strain on resources, escalating to tensions with
the local populations.
A similar
situation has unfolded in the African continent, unclear border delineations
and conflict have left some people without a clear route to obtain state
recognition. Additionally, a lack of data and documentation about stateless
persons on the continent adds extra difficulty in getting them the resources
and services they need.
Another recent
uptick in statelessness was because of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s
full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Approximately 900,000 Russians
fled the country after the invasion, either because they spoke out against the
war and would have been persecuted or to escape the draft. Many of these people
saw their passports expire while overseas, and they are unable to return to
Russia to renew them, in fear of violence or imprisonment, rendering them
stateless.
Through this
special coverage, Global Voices is exploring the plight of statelessness and
the ways it infringes on people’s basic human rights.
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