IV. BACKGROUND PAPER UNHCR The situation of stateless persons in the Middle East and North Africa This paper provides an overview of the situation of stateless persons in countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). 2 The paper provides a description of how the laws, policies and practices of MENA countries have impacted on the incidence and treatment of stateless persons within their borders. It also outlines examples of best practices and recommends a means to build on these positive examples to address and reduce statelessness and its accompanying problems throughout the region. This paper has been drafted at the initiative of UNHCR, to inform discussions during the regional expert meeting on statelessness convened jointly by UNHCR and OHCHR (1819 February 2010, Amman). The research was conducted by Laura van Waas, International Consultant with the Statelessness Unit of UNHCR’s Division of International Protection (DIP). This paper was produced with the assistance of the European Union. The views expressed are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the views of UNHCR, OHCHR or the European Union. The information provided in this paper has been extracted from existing documents, reports and studies. Please note that the verification of information compiled from these sources remains the responsibility of the respective author(s). Introduction to statelessness in the MENA region Worldwide, the number of stateless persons is believed to be in the millions and there is no region which is unaffected – including MENA. Statistics are largely imprecise, absent or contested, but available evidence suggests that the problem is widespread and of a substantial scale. Within the MENA region, there are several sizeable stateless populations, including several hundred thousand Bidoon in the Gulf region and over 200,000 stateless Kurds in Syria and Lebanon. There are also numerous smaller groups throughout the region, while nationality law and practice in some countries heightens the risk of further statelessness. Since the possession of a nationality is of both legal and practical relevance in accessing all sorts of rights and facilities, statelessness can have a severely detrimental impact on the lives of the individuals concerned. Stateless persons face a myriad of obstacles in areas ranging from international travel to access to work and education. Moreover, the negative effects of statelessness are not limited to the persons 2 Covering the following: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. 21