MAPPING OF THE POPULATION AT RISK OF STATELESSNESS IN ALBANIA The factors contributing to statelessness were summarized in the UNHCR report ‘Citizens of Nowhere’12 as follows: • State succession • Discrimination and arbitrary denial or deprivation of nationality • Technical causes These three causes often overlap. State Succession happens when two or more states separate to form a new country or when parts of a country break away to form a new and independent territory. In these cases, many people are left needing to formalise their citizenship of the new state. Often securing citizenship in a time of transition can be complicated and delaying the process to a later stage can mean that it is, in effect, put off forever. Historically, this redrawing of national boundaries has led to huge issues of statelessness. Since the Second World War, more than 100 new countries have come into being and almost without exception this has caused either short term or long term issues of statelessness, either because of bureaucracy or politics. Following the widespread adoption of the 1954 and 1961 UN Conventions, statelessness was not perceived to be an issue of concern. However, the break-up of the Soviet Union and then Yugoslavia in the 1990s, once again highlighted statelessness as a phenomenon and the problems that can accompany it. Over the past twenty years, border and nations have continued to form and reform, most recently, the Republic of South Sudan came into being in 2011. Every one of these changes has impacted citizens to a greater or lesser extent and if the engine for change has been political difference or disagreement, then the statelessness that can be caused can also come with discrimination and a lack of will to resolve many of the inherent issues. Discrimination and Arbitrary Deprivation of Nationality. Discrimination can be a root cause of statelessness. If a particular group is targeted on the basis of ethnicity, race, religion or other reason, they may be marginalised, ostracised or excluded; all of which can lead to forced or self-imposed distancing from the rest of society and authority. Gender discrimination has a direct causal link to statelessness. As has been noted already, there are countries whose nationality laws prevent the handing down of citizenship from mother to child but insist that it comes instead through the father. Any dispute over paternity or absence of the father can easily result in the child being overlooked or denied their rightful citizenship 12 Page 13 of the report. The report is available here: http://www.refworld.org/docid/50c620f62.html 22 UNHCR - TLAS / May 2018