2. STATELESSNESS ACROSS THE GLOBE
15. Globally, up to 12 million people are estimated to be stateless,12 but their actual number
is not known, because stateless people may not be counted in official statistics. Instead,
if their presence is acknowledged at all, they are more often classified in undifferentiated
categories such as “nationality unknown” or even as “aliens” in general.13
16. Stateless people hail from all continents, although certain populations have traditionally
been at particular risk. After the Second World War millions of Jews and Roma were
left stripped of citizenship and dispersed throughout Europe.14 Although most Jews and
Roma have since (re-)acquired a nationality, there are still some Roma who face problems
acquiring proof of nationality.15 The dire circumstances of all refugees in Europe after
1945, many of whom were stateless too, led to the formation of an Ad Hoc Committee on
Statelessness and Related Problems, which in February 1950 adopted a Draft Convention
relating to the Status of Refugees, subsequently opened for signature on 28 July 1951,
and an accompanying Protocol relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. Initially, it had
been thought that the overlap between problems of statelessness and refugee flows was
substantial in post-war Europe, thus requiring preparation of a legal framework designed
to address both problems. Later, however, it was realized that a separate instrument
was needed for stateless persons, as not all stateless persons actually become refugees
or necessarily cross borders. The Protocol thus became a separate Convention relating
to the Status of Stateless Persons which was opened for signature in 1954.16 This
Convention “provides for the legal status of ‘stateless person’ for individuals who find
themselves without a nationality and guarantees a minimum standard of protection”.17 In
short, it revolves around improved protection of persons who are already stateless. As
it did little in the way of prevention or reduction of statelessness, the 1954 Convention
was complemented by the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, which
deals “with the right to a nationality by identifying which State is actually responsible for
conferring (or refraining from withdrawing) nationality in particular circumstances in order
to prevent new cases of statelessness from arising”.18 These two legal instruments, which
have 68 and 40 States parties respectively as of 29 November 2011, are at the heart of
the legal regime to tackle statelessness.
17. Before elaborating on the consequences of statelessness, it is useful to understand how
people become stateless. After all, nationality is a legal-philosophical construct, not a
state of nature.19
12
UNHCR, “Action to Address Statelessness: A Strategy Note”, (2010), 4.
13
B. Frelick and M. Lynch, “Statelessness: a forgotten human rights crisis”, Forced Migration Review
24 (2005), 66.
14
United Nations, “A study of statelessness”, (1949).
15
hese Roma, who are less than 30,000 in number, are mainly from the former Yugoslavia.
T
Discrimination combined with problems obtaining documentation as a result of forced displacement
and State succession have created obstacles to their acquisition of proof nationality.
16
.A. Batchelor, “The 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons: Implementation
C
within the European Union Member States and Recommendations for Harmonization”, Refuge 22,
no. 2 (2005), 34.
17
L. van Waas, “Statelessness: A 21st century challenge for Europe”, Security and Human Rights, no.
2 (2009), 137.
18
Ibid.
19
. Boeles, “Het nut van nationaliteit”, Afscheidscollege als hoogleraar immigratierecht (Leiden, 29
P
juni 2007).
in the Netherlands
9