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18LLB017 Pil 5TH Sem

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DAMODARAM SANJIVAYYA

NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

SABBAVARAM, VISAKHAPATNAM, A.P., INDIA

PROJECT TITLE

STATELESSNESS

SUBJECT

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW

NAME OF THE FACULTY

DR. ARUNA K ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Name of the Candidate

B.MILINDA

Roll No.

2018017

Semester

VTH
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my gratitude to all those who gave me the possibility to complete this
project. I want to thanks DR. ARUNA K mam for giving me such an opportunity to do this
project. This project has helped me to understand the subject with better clarity and by
sourcing data; my researching abilities have grown by leaps and bounds.

I would also like to express my gratitude to my friends, who were instrumental in bringing
the project to its final stage without any hurdles and to my family, for their constant
motivation and support.
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TABLE OF CONTENT

1. SYNOPSIS……………………………………………………………………..4
2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY……………………………………………………7
3. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………….8
4. CAUSES OF STATELESSNESS…………………………………………….10
5. CONSEQUENCES OF STATELESSNESS…………………………………12
6. THE INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE TO STATELESSNESS…………….13
7. IDENTIFICATION OF STATELESSNESS………………………………….14
8. PREVENTION OF STATELESSNESS………………………………………14
9. CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………….15
10. BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………….16
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Synopsis

Topic:

Statelessness

INTRODUCTION:

Under International Law, a stateless person means an individual who is not recognized as a
national of any country. Article 1 of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless
Persons defines a stateless person as “a person who is not considered as a national by any
State under the operation of its law.”. Hence if there is no link or bond between an individual
and a country then such an individual will be termed as stateless. A notable incident of
statelessness is where Merhan Karimi Naserri, an Iranian refugee who was denied citizenship
in his country, spent 18 years of his life at the Charles de Gaulle Airport in France. In 2004,
his autobiography was published in the book “The Terminal”.

The United Nations on Statelessness

Background

Millions of people fled from their home country to seek refuge after World War I and
II. Since its foundation after World War II, the United Nations has been dealing with
situations of war and conflict. With war majorly leading to large-scale displacement of
people.

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) one of the six principal organs of the United
Nations requested the United Nations Security General to undertake a study in this regard.
Thereafter, three conventions were adopted to prevent people from becoming stateless. They
are:

1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees

1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons

1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness

OBJECTIVE

The main objective of this research is to find the rights and obligations of stateless persons as
protected under international law, particularly by the Convention relating to the Status of
Stateless Persons.
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The researcher opted for the doctrinal method completely based on the primary sources such
as reports, conventions, discussion papers, annual reports etc and secondary sources such as
e-journals, various published article, newsletters etc.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What does the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons provide
for?
2. What are the procedures used for determining whether a person is stateless?

HYPOTHESIS

There are various international human rights instruments which converge over the issue of
statelessness. Of these, the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and
the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness directly deal with the issue of
statelessness. The stateless are a category of extremely vulnerable persons, who depend more
on international human rights mechanisms for their protection than any other group.

LITERATURE REVIEW:

1. 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees

Also known as the Refugee Convention, a Multilateral Treaty of the United Nations dealing
with the protection of refugees. It defines who is a refugee, sets forth the right of displaced
persons and highlights the legal obligation of the states towards protecting refugees. The
convention emphasises that refugees should not be sent back to the countries where they
face the fear of persecution or danger of life except those who are war convicts or are
considered as dangerous to the security of the country.

2. The 1954 Convention

The 1954 Convention is designed to ensure that stateless people enjoy a minimum set of
human rights. It establishes the legal definition of a stateless person as someone who is “not
recognized as a national by any state under the operation of its law.” Simply put, this means
that a stateless person is someone who does not have the nationality of any country. The 1954
Convention also establishes minimum standards of treatment for stateless people in respect to
a number of rights. These include, but are not limited to, the right to education, employment
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and housing. Importantly, the 1954 Convention also


guarantees stateless people a right to identity, travel documents and administrative assistance.

There were 83 States party to the 1954 Convention in November 2014 when teams at
UNHCR launched the Campaign to End Statelessness in 10 Years.

3. The 1961 Convention

The 1961 Convention aims to prevent statelessness and reduce it over time. It establishes an
international framework to ensure the right of every person to a nationality. It requires
that states establish safeguards in their nationality laws to prevent statelessness at birth and
later in life. Perhaps the most important provision of the convention establishes that
children are to acquire the nationality of the country in which they are born if they do
not acquire any other nationality. It also sets out important safeguards to prevent
statelessness due to loss or renunciation of nationality and state succession. The convention
also sets out the very limited situations in which states can deprive a person of his or her
nationality, even if this would leave them stateless.

There were 61 states party to the 1961 Convention in November 2014 when teams at
UNHCR launched the Campaign to End Statelessness in 10 Years.

CONCLUSION

Statelessness is a serious matter and stateless persons are found in every country and
often lead an invisible life as they and their rights are not recognized. The international
community, especially the UN, is actively working to prevent and protect the rights of
stateless persons. But despite this, new instances of statelessness keep on emerging and
hence statelessness still possesses to be a major issue. More effective approaches need to
be created and implemented to tackle this problem and protect the rights of these
people.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Statelessness is a problem of global proportions. It affects people all over the world and can
have a harmful impact on them, their families and the wider community. The recently
launched #ibelong global campaign, spearheaded by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) with a view to galvanise further action by
governments, civil society, UN agencies and others, is a very welcome initiative. It has a bold
but appropriate objective: to work to end statelessness within a decade. Statelessness is a
man-made phenomenon and bringing it to an end is – at least in theory – entirely feasible.
Yet, resolving situations of statelessness around the globe does present a formidable task.
There are many different lenses through which statelessness can be explored. This inaugural
World’s Stateless report, focuses largely on the question of statistical reporting on
statelessness, with a hope to contribute to a better sense of the task ahead: knowing who and
where the stateless are and how many people are afflicted by statelessness in the world
today can help to inform the campaign to end statelessness. It is important to emphasise
that the pursuit of statistical information on statelessness, while being a useful exercise,
should not happen in isolation nor be an end in itself, and should always complement and
inform wider efforts to protect the stateless, reduce and ultimately end statelessness.
Quantifying statelessness is our shared responsibility. States hold the primary duty to
identify stateless persons in order to implement their international obligations towards
these populations –under the two UN statelessness conventions and in accordance with
international human rights law. In the fulfilment of its statelessness mandate, UNHCR has
been tasked to undertake and share research on various aspects of statelessness, including on
the scope of the problem. Other UN agencies, NGOs and academia also have a role to play in
the identification and quantification of situations of statelessness. At present, UNHCR is the
only organisation which systematically collates statistics and regularly reports on the
number of stateless persons in the world. Beyond UNHCR data, information on the scope
and reach of statelessness is dispersed across a wide array of resources.
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INTRODUCTION

Citizenship is man’s basic right, for it is nothing less than the right to have rights.
Remove this priceless possession and there remains a stateless person, disgraced and
degraded in the eyes of his countrymen.”

– US Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren

BACKGROUND HISTORY OF STATELESSNESS

The modern legal framework on nationality emerged through a series of League of Nations
treaties following World War I. Key among them was the 1930 Hague Convention on Certain
Questions Relating to the Conflict of Nationality Laws, which essentially granted states full
sovereignty in determining citizenship. This absolutism in state sovereignty, however, was
forever changed with the horrors of World War II.

The war magnified the problems of displacement and statelessness, giving rise to Article 15
of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which guarantees to
everyone the right to a nationality and prohibits the arbitrary deprivation of nationality
or denial of the right to change nationality. The Convention Relating to the Status of
Stateless Persons was adopted in 1954. The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of
Statelessness offers further detail. Article 24 of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR) states that, “every child has the right to acquire a
nationality,” and that “every child shall be registered immediately after birth.” Since
Myanmar is not a state party to these conventions, they are, at best, non-mandatory
guidelines that give policy-makers an understanding of accepted international
standards. The likelihood of Myanmar ratifying either of the statelessness conventions or the
ICCPR anytime soon is slim.

DEFINITION OF STATELESSNESS

Within the realm of public international law, rules have evolved in response to the problem of
statelessness. A definition has also emerged: a stateless person is a person who is not
considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law (sometimes referred to as
de jure statelessness). 1This definition can be found explicitly in Article 1 of the 1954

1
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Expert Meeting - The Concept of Stateless Persons under
International Law ("Prato Conclusions"), May 2010, available at:
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Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, one of the two major international
instruments that deal specifically with the issue of statelessness.

The following categories of persons may be at particular risk of statelessness when they have
difficulties establishing their nationality:

• migrant populations where difficulties to prove identity and nationality affect two or more
generations;

• persons living in border areas;

• minorities and persons who have perceived or actual ties with foreign countries;

• nomadic or semi-nomadic populations; and

• persons who have been trafficked or smuggled.

Some persons formally possess a nationality but are in a similar situation as stateless persons
and are sometimes referred to as de facto stateless. Traditionally, this has been viewed as
referring to situations where a person is outside the country of his or her nationality and is
unable, or for valid reasons, unwilling to avail him or herself of the protection of that
country.1 In practice, “de facto statelessness” is a problematic concept. Put simply, one is
only considered de facto stateless when one’s nationality is ineffective. There is, however, no
consensus as to when this criterion of ineffectiveness is met. This situation may be evidenced,
for instance, by the refusal of the country of nationality to allow a person to return home,
even though it still recognizes the individual as a national. In such a situation, the person may
also fall under the refugee definition depending on the circumstances.

UNHCR’S STATELESSNESS MANDATE

UNHCR has a specific and global mandate to prevent and reduce statelessness and to protect
nonrefugee stateless persons. Tackling statelessness is part of UNHCR’s core mandate and
should be approached accordingly

“Protecting, assisting and helping to provide solutions for refugees, stressing the rights of
stateless people and reducing statelessness are our core mandate. In everything we do, we can
never forget our mandate, and nothing will distract us from it”.

https://www.refworld.org/docid/4ca1ae002.html
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UNHCR’s role in the field of statelessness dates back to 1974 when the United Nations
General Assembly entrusted UNHCR with a specific role under the 1961 Convention on the
Reduction of Statelessness. Article 11 of that instrument calls for the establishment of “a
body to which a person claiming the benefit of this Convention may apply for the
examination of his or her claim and for assistance in presenting it to the appropriate
authority”. Indeed, UNHCR must intervene in such cases. Specifically, UNHCR’s
publication, UNHCR Action to Address Statelessness: A Strategy Note, provides that:

Where the State is a party to the 1961 Convention, relevant activities under article 11 include:

 Publicizing UNHCR’s role, including through contacts with relevant State


authorities, NGOs and lawyers’ networks;
 Reaching out to individuals who Field Offices believe may have valid claims under
the terms of the Convention;
 Assessing the compatibility of the State’s legislation with its obligations under the
1961 Convention with relevance to the case;
 Assessing whether the individual falls under the scope of a relevant provision, e.g.
whether or not a child would otherwise be stateless if not granted the nationality of
the State in question;
 Presenting findings to the individual concerned, the authorities or in court
proceedings where necessary through amicus curiae briefs2.

CAUSES OF STATELESSNESS

Developing an understanding of when, how and why nationality is generally conferred or


withdrawn allows us to recognize the causes of statelessness as well as to identify persons or
groups that may be at risk of statelessness. This knowledge is key to the task of preventing
new cases of statelessness from arising and can also contribute to efforts to reduce existing
problems of statelessness3.

The attribution of nationality

Nationality is conferred and withdrawn by States on the basis of rules that have been
elaborated in their domestic law. While in principle every State is free to design its own
nationality legislation and policy, developments in international law, and in particular human

2
UNHCR, UNHCR Action to Address Statelessness: A Strategy Note, March 2010, page 18, available at:
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4b9e0c3d2.html
3
UNHCR and IPU, “Nationality and Statelessness – A Handbook for Parliamentarians”, 2005, 8-9.
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rights law, over the course of the last century have set important limits to State discretion in
this regard.

How do people become stateless?

Through a bewildering series of sovereign, political, legal, technical or administrative


directives or oversights which include the following:

 The transfer of territory or sovereignty which alters the nationality status of some
citizens of the former state(s), leaving them without citizenship.
 Arbitrary deprivation of nationality of either individuals or groups by a government.
 Administrative oversights, misunderstandings or conflicts of law – for instance when
a child is born in a country that grants nationality by descent only, but the laws of the
state of which the parents are nationals grant citizenship by birth only on their
territory.
 Administrative or procedural problems such as excessive fees, unrealistic deadlines,
lack of appeal or review procedures and failure to notify individuals of registration or
other obligations.
 Individual renunciation of one nationality without first acquiring another citizenship.
 Nationality may be automatically altered in the case of marriage or dissolution of a
marriage between couples from different countries.
 Failure to register children at birth so there is no proof of where or to whom they were
born.
 Birth to a stateless person.

Statelessness at birth

Besides a “simple” conflict of laws, there are numerous other problems that a child can
encounter at birth that may result in his or her statelessness. In countries which only apply jus
sanguinis, “many stateless people are condemned to pass on their statelessness to their own
children as if it were some sort of genetic disease”. Moreover, without special provisions in
place, the nationality of orphaned or abandoned children may remain unclear or lacking
because the key fact of parentage or even place of birth may be unconfirmed. It is crucial to
note the link between birth registration and statelessness. Every year, many millions of births
go unrecorded. This presents a problem for the avoidance of statelessness because whatever
the laws on conferral of nationality at birth, if the State fails or refuses to register all births,
children will be unable to establish their identity and may thus fail to acquire or prove their
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entitlement to any nationality (through their parents or place of birth). While nationality is
normally acquired independently and birth registration in and of itself does not normally
confer nationality upon the child concerned, birth registration does constitute a key form of
proof of the link between an individual and a State. It thereby serves to prevent statelessness.
Many a time birth registration facilities are inadequate or simply do not exist, notably in
remote areas. As a consequence, many births are not registered. Moreover, discrimination
often exacerbates the problem since the rate of non-registration is higher among children
belonging to minority groups and other vulnerable groups such as (irregular) migrants,
refugees, indigenous peoples and the stateless. Indeed the denial of birth registration by State
authorities can be a way of ensuring that certain children are unable to establish their claim to
nationality4.

CONSEQUENCES OF STATELESSNESS

The impact on society and the state

The enjoyment of an effective nationality is now seen as a crucial component of human


security and statelessness as creating the conditions for human insecurity. This means that
nationality disputes and statelessness are connected with broader issues that affect the
surrounding community, such as poverty, social unrest, displacement and conflict.
Statelessness has been shown to have a serious impact on the surrounding community. From
a short-term perspective, it may appear that the surrounding community can benefit from the
disenfranchisement and economic marginalization of the stateless population. However, in
the longer run, the exclusion of a certain population group is unlikely to be in anyone’s
interests:

“The exploitation of the non-citizen population by their neighbours is likely to create both
interdependence and tensions. Social exclusion breeds desperation, violence and crime […].
Areas inhabited by excluded populations may be redefined as decaying zones, and hence,
subject to disinvestments. Services could be withdrawn without regard for the consequences
on the national population, which would then suffer from the same conditions of social
exclusion as the non-citizens. This happened in parts of the State of Arakan in Myanmar,
where health care and education services were virtually abandoned by government
authorities. In sum, denial of citizenship is unlikely to foster social harmony between the non-

4
UNHCR, Background Note on Gender Equality, Nationality Laws and Statelessness , 8 March 2012, available
at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4f59bdd92.html
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citizen population and the surrounding communities. Instead, it destabilises both groups in a
process that naturally leads to social unrest and generalised insecurity”.

The impact on the international community

Since statelessness violates the right to a nationality and leads to the inability to enjoy a host
of other rights, the issue deserves to be placed on the international agenda. Apart from
affecting the lives of individuals and the wider community, statelessness also impacts on the
international community:

 A major and severe consequence of statelessness is displacement.


 Statelessness may also result in instability.
 As a cause of displacement, individual and national insecurity, nationality disputes
and statelessness can feed international and non-international armed conflict.

THE INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE TO STATELESSNESS

UNHCR and statelessness

UNHCR has a specific and global mandate to prevent and reduce statelessness and protect
non-refugee stateless persons. The reason for bestowing UNHCR with a mandate on
statelessness issues – and subsequently continuing and expanding that mandate – was that the
agency could draw on its growing expertise in issues relating to nationality. Dealing with
statelessness requires, in many ways, a similar approach to dealing with refugees. Many of
the types of activities that are undertaken in response to refugee situations are also effective
in response to statelessness – intervening on protection problems facing particular
individuals or groups, for example, or developing public information campaigns to
promote awareness of certain rights and procedures. This also means that the skills
developed under UNHCR’s refugee mandate, such as negotiating, interviewing, providing
training, and many others, are readily transferable to the statelessness mandate where they
can be put to equally good use. In addition, UNHCR is accustomed to identifying and
working with both the international legal framework and domestic law and cooperating with
strategic and operational partners tools for successfully addressing both refugee situations
and statelessness.
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There are many different kinds of activities that UNHCR – and its partners – can consider,
depending on the situation at hand. For instance, by assisting states to undertake a careful
review of nationality laws as well as any regulations and procedures in place relating to
statelessness, the domestic framework for the prevention of statelessness and protection of
stateless persons can be strengthened. To complement such technical support, UNHCR can
also assist the state to build capacity to implement measures that help to prevent statelessness.

IDENTIFICATION OF STATELESSNESS

The need for identification

Identifying stateless persons remains key to addressing their difficulties and to enabling
UNHCR to fulfil its mandate with respect to stateless persons. Measuring statelessness is
complicated by the very nature of the phenomenon. Stateless people often live-in
precarious situations on the margin of society, frequently lacking identity
documentation, and subject to discrimination.

PREVENTION OF STATELESSNESS

Preventing statelessness upon a change of nationality

As a result of migration, people increasingly seek to acquire a new nationality, generally that
of the State where they have taken up residence. Yet, many States do not allow their citizens
to hold more than one nationality. The most straight-forward way of preventing statelessness
in the context of a change of nationality is permitting the loss or renunciation of nationality
only once an alternative nationality has been acquired. A number of States are keen to avoid
dual nationality and therefore require an individual to renounce his or her original nationality
prior to applying for the new nationality. This will always result in statelessness, at least
temporarily. If the person fails to complete the procedure for the acquisition of the new
nationality, they may be left stateless for a protracted period. However, dual nationality can
also be avoided without creating a risk of statelessness. One way is to allow an individual to
register his or her intent to renounce nationality or to accept proof that renunciation
procedures have been initiated. Another way is to provisionally grant nationality, giving
the individual sufficient time to renounce the previous nationality. On the other hand,
States should not withdraw the nationality of citizens who apply for another nationality
before they have at least obtained a guarantee that they will acquire the new nationality.
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Generally, States should not allow persons to renounce their nationality without
acquiring a new one.

CONCLUSION

Statelessness is a serious matter and stateless persons are found in every country and often
lead an invisible life as they and their rights are not recognized. The international community,
especially the UN, is actively working to prevent and protect the rights of stateless persons.
But despite this, new instances of statelessness keep on emerging and hence statelessness still
possesses to be a major issue. More effective approaches need to be created and implemented
to tackle this problem and protect the rights of these people.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Web sites:

1. UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Expert Meeting - The Concept of


Stateless Persons under International Law ("Prato Conclusions"), May 2010, available
at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4ca1ae002.html
2. UNHCR, UNHCR Action to Address Statelessness: A Strategy Note, March 2010,
page 18, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4b9e0c3d2.html
3. UNHCR and IPU, “Nationality and Statelessness – A Handbook for
Parliamentarians”, 2005, 8-9.
4. UNHCR, Background Note on Gender Equality, Nationality Laws and Statelessness ,
8 March 2012, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4f59bdd92.html

BOOKS:

1. Nationality and Statelessness under International Law


2. Nationality and Statelessness: A Handbook for Parliamentarians
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