TABLE OF CONTENTS 02 IMPRINT 04 INTRODUCTION 10 RIGHTS CITIZENS OF NOWHERE While most readers of this Atlas have the pieces of paper, booklets and plastic cards that permit them to get money from a cash machine, consult a doctor, travel, drive and vote, that is not the case for many refugees, the homeless, the unemployed and others on the margins of society. 12 HISTORY WEAPONS OF MASS DISCRIMINATION The emergence of nation-states in the nineteenth century led to the practice of denying citizenship to people living in those states. The First World War saw the start of actively depriving nationals of their citizenship. This was used both to punish individuals and to repress groups. The Nazis employed it as part of the Holocaust. 14 DATA AVAILABILITY KNOWN UNKNOWNS “If you can’t measure it, it doesn’t exist.” Stateless people often do not appear in official data. The state may be aware of their existence, but does not know how many there are, where they are, or what they need. They are invisible, and thus are easily overlooked or deliberately ignored. Lebanon is a prime example of this problem. 16 HEALTH TREATING SYMPTOMS, NOT THE CAUSE Health and human rights are inextricably intertwined. Without the right papers, people may be denied government health services. They may be forced to pay for more expensive private doctors and clinics, or have to do without healthcare altogether. As a result they tend to be less healthy than the general population. That is bad for everyone: sick people are less productive, and society has to pick up the bill. 18 MALAYSIA THE INDIGNITY OF THE INDIGENOUS The Malaysian term bumiputera, or “son of the soil” refers to people whose ancestors are native to Malaysia. But a large number of bumiputera – especially non-Malay indigenous people – are in fact stateless, because the state fails to recognize their marriage and other customs. 20 ROHINGYA REJECTED AND DISOWNED Myanmar, or Burma, is home to a multitude of ethnic groups, dominated by the majority Burmese, or Bamar. The Muslim Rohingya are not officially recognized and are regarded as foreigners. The result: crimes against humanity. 22 ASSAM ALONG THE BRAHMAPUTRA Anti-Muslim politicians in the northeast Indian state of Assam wanted to use a new register of citizens to trigger the mass deportation of Muslims to neighbouring Bangladesh. But most of the people affected turned out to be Hindus. 24 IRAQ MANY GROUPS AND MANY CAUSES In Iraq, people have been left stateless because of successive waves of conflicts and injustices. Some groups have suffered a long history of discrimination; others have been rendered stateless by more recent events. Laws that discriminate against women are a special problem – but would be easy to fix. ATLAS OF THE STATELESS 5