“This Conference provided me a sense of more belonging” Parsu Sharma-Luital, formerly stateless activist from Bhutan Key Conference Takeaways The overarching conference theme, Citizenship for Inclusive Societies, served to inspire and inform the conversations that took place throughout the event. Inclusion is not just something that we seek to achieve through promoting the right to a nationality and addressing statelessness, it is also a core value of our collective efforts. As Conference Chair, Laetitia van den Assum, described: “Dialogue, sharing of information, collaborative projects, and activism, hold prominence for the global statelessness and inclusion agenda… inclusion is about democracy, it is about the kind of societies we want to build, societies that don’t include the exclusion of others”. Over three days of inclusive dialogue among the most diverse array of stakeholders ever convened to discuss statelessness, these were some of the key takeaways: 1 Discrimination and the intersection of multiple discrimination are the real drivers of state policies, legislation and practices that cause and perpetuate statelessness. Racism, xenophobia, patriarchy and the other underlying causes of discrimination therefore lie at the root of most statelessness, and the enduring exclusion and disadvantage of stateless people and communities. Collectively, these are the biggest obstacles to tackling statelessness and can only be overcome through a joined-up and multi-sectoral response that takes its lead from stateless people. “We must empower the stateless people, so they can raise their own voice, fight for their own cause, and make change in their own communities.” Sujauddin Karimuddin Elom Empowerment & SNAP 2 The arbitrary deprivation of nationality of the Rohingya, their statelessness, denial of legal status and protection, and the exclusion and marginalisation they have endured for decades are all contributing factors towards the persecution and genocide of this community. There is no sustainable way forward from this crisis that does not include the protection of the right to nationality and ending the statelessness of the Rohingya. 4 3 The unfolding crisis in Assam, which has led to almost 2 million people being deprived of their Indian nationality, the displacement caused by the Syria conflict and Venezuela crisis, the continued disenfranchisement of Dominicans of Haitian origin, the endurance of gender discriminatory nationality laws in a quarter of the world’s countries, are all demonstrative of the persistence and indeed escalation of statelessness and its impacts around the world. These big issues require bold, innovative and committed responses. 4 The recognition and promotion of every child’s right to a nationality is crucial and must be prioritised by both the human rights and development sectors. Special emphasis and greater urgency must be placed on addressing intergenerational statelessness and protecting the right to a nationality of the children of stateless parents, to break the cycle of exclusion. 5 Nationality deprivation is a discriminatory and arbitrary practice violating international norms. The increasing use of this measure by States in the name of (inter)national security, in spite of the mounting evidence that it does not advance security and may even be counterproductive, undermines citizenship as a core democratic institution and is negatively impacting any advances made internationally to address statelessness.