OVERVIEW The statelessness experienced by certain groups is both a symptom and a cause of their exclusion: it stems from discrimination based on difference, and it reinforces their lack of full membership in the societies they live in, making everyday life much more difficult and solidifying civil and political exclusion. Statelessness is sometimes understood as a technical problem resulting from shortcomings in nationality laws. In many cases, however, the underlying cause of statelessness for minority groups is difference itself. The modern international rights framework for the protection of minorities is an attempt to recognize and respond to this. Special attention is given to minority rights in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which says in Article 27, “In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, or to use their own language.” The UN Statelessness Conventions themselves are also part of the international community’s effort to address statelessness globally. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the 1992 Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, in which States committed to protect these groups from any form of discrimination. Today the work of the UN includes a dedicated Forum on Minority Rights under the auspices of the Human Rights Council, a Special Rapporteur on Minority Rights, and regular resolutions on the subject by the Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly. The subject of stateless minorities featured at the Forum on Minority Rights for the first time in 2016. 8 • UNHCR STATELESSNESS REPORT 2017 Following each of the consultations, UNHCR, together with representatives from each of the affected minority communities, met with stakeholders from Government and civil society to highlight key findings. Minority representatives were also supported to advocate directly with authorities for inclusion of their communities through grant of nationality; reforms to prevent childhood statelessness and remedy discriminatory laws; and improvements to policies and administrative practices to ensure unfettered access to civil registration and associated national identity documentation. The voices of stateless individuals from minority groups featured in this report help us understand the complex interplay between being disadvantaged as a minority and being stateless. With these insights active steps can be taken to remedy the injustice of statelessness and alleviate the hardships stateless persons experience in their everyday lives. Tina Eric, 22, from the Makonde tribe in Kwale County, Kenya, participates in the consultations with stateless minorities in June 2017. 2017 UNHCR STATELESSNESS REPORT • 9