It is estimated that at least 10 million people are stateless worldwide: they are not considered as nationals by any State under the operation of its law. Statelessness is sometimes referred to as an invisible problem because stateless people often remain unseen and unheard. They often aren’t allowed to go to school, see a doctor, get a job, open a bank account, buy a house or even get married. Denial of these rights impacts not only the individuals concerned but also society as a whole, in particular because excluding an entire sector of the population can lead to social tensions and significantly impair economic and social development. HOW DO PEOPLE BECOME STATELESS? WHERE DO THEY LIVE? Statelessness can be caused by a number of factors such as: discrimination in nationality laws (e.g. racial, religious or gender), conflict between and gaps in nationality laws and State succession. Being undocumented is not the same as being stateless. However lack of birth registration can put people at risk of statelessness as a birth certificate provides proof of where a person was born and parentage – key information needed to establish a nationality. Risks of statelessness can also arise in situations of displacement. For example, in the context of the Syria crisis, the risk of statelessness is increased by a combination of gender discrimination in Syria’s nationality law coupled with a lack of civil documentation amongst the displaced population. Although statelessness may in many contexts be a hidden problem, stateless people are found in all regions of the world. The majority of statelessness people were born in the countries in which they have lived their entire lives. Countries with notably large stateless populations include Myanmar, Kuwait, Cote d’Ivoire, Thailand, Iraq, and the Dominican Republic. Significant populations also live in the countries around the world which do not allow mothers to confer their nationality to their children on an equal basis as fathers. This can result in children being left stateless when fathers are unknown, missing or deceased. Statelessness due to the dissolution of former states also continues to affect many people, including hundreds of thousands of people in Europe alone. #IBELONG The Campaign to End Statelessness by 2024 © UNHCR / R. Arnold What is Statelessness?