“ In our generation’s global crisis, unless things drastically change, the stateless will continue to be too unimportant to be seen, a convenient scapegoat, and a target for hatred. Now, the stakes are higher and the cost of exclusion greater. AMAL DE CHICKERA, Co-Director of the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion in Open Democracy The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI) has been monitoring the impact of the global pandemic on stateless persons and the right to a nationality through tracking online reporting on the issue; consulting with civil society partners at global, regional, national and grassroots levels; and publishing an Appeal for Information in 6 languages. We have identified 7 key concerns: 1 HEALTH & WELL-BEING Many healthcare systems are based upon nationality. Access for non-nationals, where existent, is dependent on legal status, the ability to produce identity documents and/or to pay supplementary fees – all of which can put health services out of reach for stateless persons. Even where states have announced an opening up of screening and treatment services for COVID-19 to all persons on their territory, this has not guaranteed the inclusion of the stateless due to their precarious legal status and longstanding fear of reprisals from authorities. 2 SURVIVAL & LIVELIHOODS The pandemic is having a devastating effect on the economy and hunger is predicted to rise to catastrophic levels. Warding off starvation and economic disaster is a major focus of governments’ response, but humanitarian relief and financial support packages are concentrated on citizens – leaving the stateless further behind, as they are more likely to be living in poverty, with less ability to ride out the crisis. Statelessness has also long been a blind spot for development and humanitarian organisations, with many groups not receiving life-saving aid. 3 HATE SPEECH & XENOPHOBIA With rising authoritarianism, some leaders are exploiting the pandemic to grab more power, increase surveillance and derogate from human rights obligations under declared states of emergency. Foreigners In Nepal, the Citizenship Affected People’s Network (CAPN), continues to receive pleas for urgent humanitarian relief from hundreds of families around the country. They had been refused government relief packages because, as stateless people, they cannot produce citizenship cards - a requirement for government hand-outs. Further, they are not being reached by UN and other humanitarian aid. The families concerned have no other means to survive because, without citizenship, the only employment available to them is day labouring, which is no longer possible as the country is in lockdown. State restrictions, which on the one hand, require all COVID-19 aid to be channelled through the state, but on the other, exclude the stateless, have placed these people’s lives at risk. ‘These families belong to a very discriminated class and their citizenship problems mean that they are now in a dire situation” says Deepti, a member of CAPN. “I am very worried. Even if we can find a way to help these families, I’m sure many more are affected in the same way.’ Already at crisis point before the pandemic, the situation of the stateless Rohingya has deteriorated further. Inside Myanmar, violence against the Rohingya continues but this now receives little international attention because COVID-19 dominates news cycles and is being exploited by the government to further discrimination against minorities . Lack of preparedness and health facilities, armed conflict, landmines, internal displacement, restrictions of movement and discrimination increase risks for the Rohingya population as the pandemic spreads. In Bangladesh, a similar lack of preparedness and health facilities, alongside overcrowding and precarious conditions in the refugee camps, internet shutdown and restrictions of movement for humanitarian workers may result in a disaster among the