SOLVING STATELESSNESS Another barrier is simply one of prejudice by individual officials or members of society: “[m]y neighbours speak badly to me because I am stateless. They tell me I’m not worthy of doing anything.””° Stateless people have reported being exploited by, for instance, employers who know that it is particularly difficult for them to find work and so they may be more willing to work illegally on a low wage.’ As a result of these (and other) factors, the vulnerability of stateless people is often a complex phenomenon. It is not just that they are stateless. It is also that they are an unwanted ethnic minority and are considered to be outsiders and are poor and have faced marginalisation and disadvantage with cumulative effect for many generations. Simplistic, one dimensional “solutions” that, for example, guarantee the right to education for stateless people without taking into account their historical disadvantage and the other factors that shape their reality are not likely to succeed. Equal access to rights for stateless people cannot be ensured only by focusing on their statelessness. A holistic approach is needed. 3. The legal framework on equality The legal framework on equality is an important tool for solving statelessness. Since the adoption of the UDHR in 1948 equality has been recognised as a fundamental human right of foundational importance. UDHR Article 1 declares that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” and Article 2 goes on to provide that all rights shall be enjoyed without discrimination. Since then, the rights to equality and non-discrimination have been an integral part of key international and regional human rights treaties, including the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 26,28 and on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) of 1966 (Article 2(1)).2? The right to non-discrimination has also been 26 *7 28 29 Equal Rights Trust, My Children’s Future, supra n2, p. 23. Ibid, p. 26. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 16 December 1966, entry into force 23 March 1976, 999 UNTS 171. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), 16 December 1966, entry into force 3 January 1976, 993 UNTS 3. At the regional level the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), 4 November 1950, entry into force 3 September 1953, ETS 005, the American Convention on Human Rights, 22 107