SOLVING STATELESSNESS 3.2 Applying the equality framework to statelessness Many causes of statelessness and the inequalities faced by stateless people violate the rights to equality and non-discrimination in one or multiple respects. What follows are some key, non-exhaustive, examples of why and how the equality framework can be used to defend the rights of stateless people and address statelessness. 3.2.1 Relevant grounds of discrimination The right to non-discrimination, while not identically formulated in each international human rights treaty, commonly protects people from all forms of discrimination including but not limited to some of the traditionally identified grounds such as sex, race and religion. As shown in section 2 above, statelessness may be caused by one or more of these grounds. Accordingly, the legal framework on equality can be invoked. However, it is also clear that there are times when stateless people face discrimination because they are stateless or because of circumstances that result from their statelessness, such as poverty. The more difficult question is whether the equality framework protects stateless persons from these forms of discrimination. As discussed in section 3.1, today people are protected from discrimination on a wider variety of grounds than were initially explicitly identified in human rights treaties. There are two areas of developing jurisprudence which have a particular bearing on how the rights of stateless people can be protected through the equality framework. Firstly, there is the right to be free from discrimination on grounds of nationality, including on grounds of statelessness. We have noted that, since it was enshrined in international law the right to non-discrimination has applied to The Human Rights Committee, in in 1986, made clear that “[a]liens requirement of non-discrimination all people including non-nationals. discussing the scope of the ICCPR receive the benefit of the general in respect of the rights guaranteed in the Covenant, as provided for in article 2 thereof”.*° In more recent times it has become clear that this right can be used to protect stateless people from unjustified differential treatment. For example, in 2009, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) handed down its judgment in the case of Ms Andrejeva.”! “0 “1 UN Human Rights Committee, supra n33, para. 2. European Court of Human Rights, Application 111 No. 55707/00, Andrejeva