“...a form of punishment more primitive than torture” A 1 0 - Y E A R C A M PA I G N T O E N D S TAT E L E S S N E S S Seeking Solutions © UNHCR / G. CONSTANTINE / 2 010 An ethnic Korean who moved to Ukraine in 1993 and has lived with a local woman for more than a decade still cannot officially register their union. Since 2004, 12 countries have reformed their nationality laws to allow women to confer nationality to their children. O P P O S I T E PAG E 22 STAT E L E S S N E S S © UNHCR / B. SOKOL / JULY 2014 Higna is a Dominican of Haitian descent who had her Dominican citizenship revoked, rendering her stateless. An exceptional student, Higna was offered a scholarship to a university at just 16 years old. Unable to receive her cedula, the Dominican national identity card, Higna was unable to attend university or apply for jobs. Daunted but refusing to be defeated, Higna is taking courses in English and other studies and is continuing her fight to regain her citizenship. pass on their nationality, gender parity in nationality could prevent childhood statelessness in thousands of cases.  Resolving current situations of statelessness through changes to legislation or government policy which in most cases is the simplest, most low-cost approach to address statelessness.  Eliminating discrimination because of race, ethnicity, religion, gender or disability which is sometimes enshrined in law and has affected hundreds of thousands of members of minority groups across the world. Other measures, which will be highlighted in discussions with governments and relevant international and regional organizations, public and academic conferences, include guarantees of a nationality to individuals affected by the creation of a new state or the transfer of territories between states; encouraging all countries to accede to the two UN conventions on statelessness; ensuring that stateless migrants acquire a legal status and a nationality through government procedures; and the gathering of more comprehensive data on stateless people and the causes of their statelessness. “Ending decades of social injustice ingrained in the everyday life will not be easy but it is simply the right thing to do,” High Commissioner Guterres said. “Stateless people almost always have strong ties to one country or another. With political will and our combined efforts, those ties between people and states can be recognized. Millions of people will finally have a country to call their own and will finally have the same opportunities enjoyed by the rest of us.”