HELPFUL RESOURCES A short introduction to statelessness Having a nationality is like holding the official membership of a country, bringing with it the benefits attached to that membership, like the opportunity to participate and the protection of a government. It also offers a sense of belonging – to a place and to a community. Each country has its own rules about how you can become a member: rules (or laws) that set out which people are granted nationality. Some countries give nationality to anybody born there. Other countries give nationality to anybody who has a parent from the country. Most countries allow people who have lived there for a long time or married someone from the country, to apply for nationality. In this way the real-life connections that a person has with a country form the basis for becoming a national. There is a very important document called the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which sets out the rights of every single person in the world. The Declaration says that “everyone has the right to a nationality”. This means that nationality rules should be fair, and everyone should be able to get a nationality somewhere. No one should be stateless. However, some countries have bad rules, like not allowing women to pass on their nationality to their children or saying that people who belong to certain minorities cannot have a nationality. Other countries have good rules that are not practiced properly. For all these reasons, there are still many people in the world who don’t have a nationality. No one knows the exact number, but we think at least 15 million people around the world are stateless, they have no nationality. When a person has no nationality, they are unable to participate in life in the same way as others. They might not be able to go to school, see a doctor or have a job. This is clearly wrong, it goes against everyone’s human rights and must be changed. There are lots of people around the world fighting for everyone’s right to a nationality. They are running campaigns, speaking to leaders, protesting and doing all kinds of interesting and important things to change the situation. It can take a lot of time and hard work but there have been great successes. We must do everything we can so that everyone enjoys the right to a nationality! Quick facts • The right to a nationality is a fundamental human right. Statelessness is the most extreme violation of this right. • There are an estimated 15 million people who are stateless in the world meaning that they are not considered as nationals by any state. • Statelessness is often the result of discrimination against women, ethnic minorities and other groups. This is in violation of human rights standards. • Childhood statelessness is most often a result of the inheritance of statelessness from parent to child. However, it can also be caused by gender and other forms of discrimination in nationality laws, lack of adequate safeguards or gaps in birth registration. • Stateless people are often unable to see a doctor, get a job, open a bank account, buy a house or even get married due to their status. For children who are stateless it can also mean that they can’t to go to school, play, be with their families and carers and enjoy their childhood. 8