UN vows to end scourge of statelessness
Ten million people have no nationality, limiting access to education, medical care and travel
The United Nations has launched a global campaign which aims to end the plight of statelessness within ten years.
People born without nationality are often deprived of education and medical care, and they may not be allowed to travel.
In some cases citizenship may be denied to specific ethnic groups within a country, the BBC reports, and in other cases people may slip between bureaucratic cracks.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Children born in refugee camps often have no entitlement to the nationality of the new country they are born in," it says, "and no chance of returning to the country of their parents to claim nationality there."
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees is marking the 60th anniversary of the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons with a series of events designed to "highlight the human face of statelessness" and persuade countries to grant nationality to all their stateless people.
What is the 1954 Convention?
This was the UN's first attempt at solving the problem of statelessness. It is a list of recommendations first prepared by the UN Economic and Social Council after the Second World War, and according to a report published by the UNHCR in 2003, it remains "the primary international instrument adopted to date to regulate and improve the legal status of stateless persons and to ensure to them fundamental rights and freedoms without discrimination".
What will the UNHCR do to end statelessness now?
The UNHCR said it will establish a "series of dialogues with stateless people to better understand the impact of statelessness" and then "bring together policymakers, international organizations, NGOs and academics to discuss new research and policy perspectives to tackle some of the most pressing statelessness situations around the world".
The BBC reports that refugees' rights groups say that too little progress has been made on the issue.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Scottie Scheffler: victory for the 'pre-eminent golfer of this era'
Why Everyone's Talking About Masters victory is Scheffler's second in three years
By The Week Staff Published
-
Crossword: April 20, 2024
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sudoku hard: April 20, 2024
The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Gaza hospital blast: What the video evidence shows about who's to blame
Speed Read Nobody wants to take responsibility for the deadly explosion in the courtyard of Gaza's al-Ahli Hospital. Roll the tape.
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Giraffe poo seized after woman wanted to use it to make a necklace
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Helicopter sound arouses crocodiles
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Woman sues Disney over 'injurious wedgie'
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Emotional support alligator turned away from baseball stadium
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Europe's oldest shoes found in Spanish caves
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Artworks stolen by Nazis returned to heirs of cabaret performer
It wasn't all bad Good news stories from the past seven days
By The Week Staff Published