Stateless Transnational Migrant Children in South Africa INTRODUCTION Mixed migration is on the rise globally and in Africa. The presence of many undocumented migrants crossing different international borders is straining immigration, child protection and citizenship legislation and policies, and a sense of balance is required between inclusion and exclusion (Van Waas, 2007: 437). Statelessness is when a person is not recognized by any country as a citizen, and they cannot call any country their own. According to Art. 1 of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, a stateless person is an individual “who is not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law.” South Africa is reported to have many undocumented migrants, who are either stateless or vulnerable to becoming stateless. A part of this population includes children and young people under the age of 18. Due to lack of country affiliation and subsequent protection, stateless persons have been referred to as “outcasts from the global political system of states” (UNHCR, 2001) and as “legal ghosts” (UNHCR, 2004). Stateless adults and children experience challenges when they try to access fundamental rights and services and they are at risk of marginalization, discrimination and insecurity (Van Waas, 2007: 439). The worldwide growth in the number of children who are migrants and stateless and the associated risks are increasing concerns among scholars and practitioners (Bhabha, 2009, 2011; Lynch, 2010). Empirical research in this area is scant and there is a call to increase the voices of local actors to help fill the gaps to further understand statelessness and responses to it (Ball et al., 2014). In addition, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.9 requires “providing legal identity for all, including birth registration, by 2030” – a key factor in preventing statelessness. Childhood statelessness in South Africa is reported to be an increasing phenomenon, which, though preventable, is often overlooked (LHR and ISI, 2016). The Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) have been instrumental in providing assistance to stateless persons in South Africa. However, the lack of a social work response to childhood statelessness means that its guiding ethics and principles are not being fully exercised (Edwards and Mika, 2017). Despite social work being a global profession that is committed to social change and social justice, little attention has been devoted to this challenge in the social work discourse in South Africa. The paucity of attention in social work to the issue of childhood statelessness is concerning in light of the opportunities for social work engagement and support. Indeed, several reports have singled out and suggested that social workers can play a critical role in addressing this issue. However, information relevant to helping social workers to address this challenge in South Africa is largely absent. The goal of this paper is to help social work practitioners assist stateless migrant children and migrant children at risk of becoming stateless. The expressions irregular migrant, undocumented or non-documented migrant refer to the same basic situation, i.e. when a non-national in South Africa is in contravention of South African immigration laws. These terms also include people who entered the country 7