Statelessness Working Paper Series No. 2017/06 3. International Law The right to a nationality is an essential human right and brings with it, a number of other rights and protections. Article 15 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that “Everyone has the right to a nationality”. Nationality entails rights and duties for both the State and the individual. Without citizenship, a person cannot obtain these attached rights or duties, resulting in a lack of opportunity, protection and participation.12 As Hannah Arendt said, without a nationality, stateless people are denied a “right to have rights”.13 The 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (‘1954 Convention’) establishes the universal definition of a “stateless person” and provides a core set of principles for their treatment. Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention defines a stateless person as “a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law.”14 As party to the 1954 Convention, Australia has a number of international legal obligations owing to stateless people. Relevantly, Article 32 requires Australia to “as far as possible facilitate the assimilation and naturalization of stateless people.” Australia must “make every effort to expedite naturalization proceedings and to reduce as far as possible the charges and costs of such proceedings.” This is also reflected in Article 34 of the Refugee Convention. Australia also has obligations towards stateless persons under the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (‘1961 Convention’),15 which aims to reduce further statelessness through the acquisition of a nationality for those who have a link to a country. 16 Importantly, under Article 1 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (‘1961 Convention’), Australia must grant nationality to a person born in its territory who would otherwise be stateless. 4. Domestic Law Australia does not automatically grant citizenship to a person born in its territory. A person is only granted Australian citizenship upon birth if one parent of the child is an Australian citizen or permanent resident at the time of the birth.17 Otherwise, a child born in Australia is automatically granted citizenship after residing in Australia for ten years.18 Thus children born in Australia to asylum seekers or refugees on temporary visas are not eligible for citizenship, unless they can prove that they are stateless. Section 21(8) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 provides citizenship by conferral for stateless children born in Australia, incorporating Australia’s obligations under Article 1 of the 1961 Convention. An application for citizenship by a stateless person will be approved if the Minister is satisfied that the child: • • • 12 was born in Australia; is not a national or citizen of any country; has never been a national or citizen of any country; and Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, ‘The World’s Stateless’ (2014) 29 <http://www.institutesi.org/worldsstateless.pdf>. 13 Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1973) 269; Asher Lazarus Hirsch and Nathan Bell, ‘The Right to Have Rights as a Right to Enter: Addressing a Lacuna in the International Refugee Protection Regime’ [2017] Human Rights Review 1. 14 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, September 28, 1954, UNTS.360. June. 6, 1960. 15 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, August.30, 1961, UNTS 989, September 13, 1975. 16 Christopher Richter, ‘Statelessness in Australian Refugee Law: The (Renewed) Case for Complementary Protection’ (2005) 24 U. Queensland LJ 545, 548. 17 Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth) s 12(a) 18 Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth) s 12(b)