Water 2020, 12, 340 23 of 28 This progress, however, has not extended to vulnerable groups who lack legal protections regarding water access and who stand to gain the most from these protections. Vulnerable groups lacking the “right to have rights” are entitled to protection and recognition regarding the human right to water. This does not guarantee enforceability of these rights, but it is highly problematic that vulnerable groups already at risk due to ambiguous legal statuses also remain unprotected with respect to the essential right to water. How can any hope for enforceability exist if even an enforceable definition of the human right to water remains absent? As Benhabib argues, “the boundaries of political community, as defined by the nation-state system, are no longer adequate to regulate membership”, but “Arendt was just as skeptical about the ideals of world government as she was about the possibility of nation-state systems ever achieving justice and equality for all” [37]. This article has examined a path forward for international law relating to the right to water for those lacking a “right to have rights” that treads a middle ground between reliance on inter-state resolution (which inevitably excludes the stateless and displaced) and reliance on non-enforceable UN “world” governance. The history thus far of the human right to water suggests that securing reparations for the stateless, displaced, and victims of armed conflict may, albeit slowly, become a more accessible process outside limits of national laws and civil rights in the future. A precedent recommending “compensation” has been set in the UNWC, but international law must continue to evolve to better cope with ongoing violations of the human right to water and implementation of functioning reparations mechanisms, beyond a mere “discussion of compensation”. Funding: This research received no external funding. Acknowledgments: I am grateful for the support of George Joffé, who was my dissertation supervisor while completing my MPhil at Cambridge, and who provided feedback on an earlier version of this work. Thank you to Sinan Antoon, Vasuki Nesiah, and Peder Anker for their support during the early stages of my focus on the human right to water. Thank you to the convenors of the seminar, “Water (In)Security, Migration, and Regional Integration: Is There a Nexus?” at the 2019 World Water Week in Stockholm, for the opportunity to present this work. Participants in conferences hosted by SOAS, ISA, ACUNS, Oxford, NYU, BRISMES, MESA, and LSE, where aspects of this research were presented, provided valuable input. I am indebted to all the people impacted by lack of water access, and all those working in the water access and human rights fields, who took the time to speak with me about their experiences. My time as an NYU Gallatin Global Fellow in Human Rights was crucial for informing my research on this topic. I would also like to thank the LSE Law Department and Gerry Simpson, and acknowledge the support of the Judge Rosalyn Higgins Scholarship, as I continue my work on the subject of environmental justice. Conflicts of Interest: The author declares no conflicts of interest. References 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Arendt, H. The Origins of Totalitarianism; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: New York, NY, USA, 1968; p. 297. First published 1951. JMP. Progress on Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: 2017 Update and Sustainable Development Goal Baselines. July 2017. Available online: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2017/launch-versionreport-jmp-water-sanitation-hygiene.pdf (accessed on 1 August 2017). WHO. 1 in 3 People Globally Do Not Have Access to Safe Drinking Water. 18 June 2019. Available online: https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/18-06-2019-1-in-3-people-globally-do-not-have-access-tosafe-drinking-water-unicef-who (accessed on 18 June 2019). Progress on Drinking Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene, 2000–2017. 2019. Available online: https://www.who. int/water_sanitation_health/publications/jmp-2019-full-report.pdf?ua=1 (accessed on 12 September 2019). UN World Water Development Report 2019. 19 March 2019. Available online: https://www.unwater.org/ publications/world-water-development-report-2019/ (accessed on 12 September 2019). Packer, R. How Long Can the Average Person Survive Without Water? Sci. Am. 2002. Available online: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-long-can-the-average/ (accessed on 12 September 2019). WHO. Drinking Water Fact Sheet. 14 June 2019. Available online: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/ factsheets/fs391/en/ (accessed on 12 September 2019). Joffé, G. The Impending Water Crisis in the MENA Region. Int. Spect. 2016, 51, 55–66. [CrossRef]