S P E C I A L R E P O RT / I N T R O D U C T I O N “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 © UNITED NATIONS / AUGUST 196 1 often prolonging crises rather than undertaking efforts to solve them. UNHCR insists that this problem is largely avoidable, and with adequate political will, entirely solvable too. A major hurdle to solutions is that governments and UNHCR lack adequate data on many stateless populations. Frequently stateless persons are not only undocumented but also ignored by the authorities and uncounted in national administrative registries and databases. Most even go uncounted in population censuses. Of 142 national population censuses undertaken since 2005, for which the United Nations possesses detailed information, only 112 included a question on nationality. Of these, less than 25% of census questionnaires included pre-set options for cen- STATELESSNESS  Late 180 0s  1 92 2 Legal scholars identify statelessness as ‘inhumane’ League of Nations encourages member states to issue ID to 800,000 people deprived of Russian nationality 6  1 94 1  19 48 Amendment to the German Citizenship Law passed depriving exiled Jews of their German citizenship Universal Declaration of Human Rights – nationality recognized as a human right STAT E L E S S N E S S  1950 UNHCR created  1954 U.N. Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons adopted  “When I tell people I am stateless, what I see in their faces is shock, ignorance and mistrust. It’s like when the AIDS virus was first discovered and suddenly people were suspicious of anyone who was HIV-positive.” – RAILYA IN FRANCE © UNHC R / G. CONSTA NTI NE / 2 0 0 9 Delegates from 29 countries convened at the UN Headquarters in New York to sign the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Mr. Mario Amadeo of Argentina is seen here signing the final act on behalf of his country. sus takers to fill in “stateless” or “without nationality” when interviewing stateless individuals. In recent years there has been a perceptible and positive shift to resolve statelessness. More states have acceded to the two conventions; 26 states have become parties in the last three years alone bringing the total up to 82 countries which have acceded to the 1954 Convention and 60 countries which have acceded to the 1961 Convention. Many have resolved statelessness. Following a 2008 High Court ruling in Bangladesh the 300,000 stateless Urdu-speakers were recognized as citizens. Viet Nam has moved to resolve the plight of stateless former refugees from Cambodia and to facilitate the re-acquisition of nationality by thousands of women who became stateless after they failed to acquire the nationality of foreign husbands. Since 2009 more than 60,000 former Soviet citizens have become nationals in Kyrgyzstan, while over 15,000 have acquired the nationality of Turkmenistan. In Iraq, during Saddam Hussein’s regime, a 1980 decree stripped Faili Kurds of citizenship until the new government overturned that decision. Côte d’Ivoire amended its laws in 2013 to allow nationality to be acquired through a simplified application process that will allow many of the 700,000 stateless persons there to acquire citizenship. There also have been inspiring individual success stories. Through sheer perseverance, Srinuan, a young stateless woman, fought to get Thai nationality and subsequently inspired hundreds of people from her village to follow suit. Halfway across the globe in Côte d’Ivoire, stateless person, Bere Tassoumane, acquired nationality and was then able to run for local office in the city of Bouaffle, and five more of his formerly stateless friends subsequently won local elections. The route to nationality is often a difficult one. Here, a stateless woman lays out all the documentation she has had to present in her attempt to acquire a nationality. OVER TIME   1955 1955 1961 U.S. Supreme Court Justice Warren denounces statelessness as “form of punishment more primitive than torture” Landmark judgement by International Court of Justice confirms that each country’s nationality law must respect international law U.N. Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness adopted  1974 UNHCR mandated by General Assembly to assist stateless people under the 1961 Convention  1995 UNHCR’s mandate expanded globally to prevent and reduce statelessness and protect stateless persons STAT E L E S S N E S S    20 0 5 20 11 20 14 Landmark ruling by Inter-American Court of Human Rights decision on statelessness and right to nationality ‘Quantum leap’ at Geneva Ministerial Meeting: over 60 states make statelessnessrelated pledges Launch of 10 year campaign by UNHCR to end statelessness 7