Statelessness Working Paper Series 2016/08 “the most excluded people in the world,” as described by the former High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres. 32 Though their status as the ‘most excluded’ is not contested, the popular and tragic refrain that the stateless are ‘without the right to have rights’ is an unfortunate characterization of statelessness that leads to a narrow construction of the challenge and potential solutions. Stateless people are human of course, and therefore are entitled to a whole host of rights on account of their human status alone. Their economic, social, cultural, and political rights are protected without the need to prove legal status. This obligates states to both refrain from violating the rights of the stateless, but also to take positive steps towards the realization of their rights, including the right to nationality. This argument is no mere academic exercise, but rather has important, practical implications for stateless people. Under strengthened human rights mechanisms led by the Human Rights Council, the human rights conditions of stateless people receive formal attention and public exposure.33 In particular, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) lifts the lid on the conditions that stateless people suffer, providing leverage for statelessness experts to pressure states to do more. The UPR is also essential to maintaining the norms that protect rights of stateless people and prevent violations from happening in the future. These norms might make it more likely that the police of a host state responds to allegations of slavery or trafficking of stateless individuals with investigations and arrests, or that a ministry provides emergency food supplies to a stateless group facing starvation. Barbaric as these examples may sound, they compel us to think clearly about the power behind the idea of human rights—in this case the right to life, liberty and security of person—and the importance of the rule of law. Stateless people derive their rights from being human and the rule of law is the instrument by which those rights are protected. Overtime, dedicated investments in the rule of law should also lead to a strong rights-based culture founded on human rights norms, discouraging deviations from equitable treatment, while holding (Iraqi) bureaucrats accountable for arbitrarily denying women the right to confer nationality upon their children.34 7. Rule of Law framework and its contribution to solving statelessness High rates of statelessness tend to correlate with deficits in the rule of law. Aligning UNHCR’s most recent Statelessness Statistics35 with the World Justice Project, Rule of Law Index for 2015,36 reveals 32 Vivian Tan, ed. Leo Dobbs, New Campaign: UNHCR launches global campaign for the stateless millions, 25 August 2011, available at http://www.unhcr.org/news/latest/2011/8/4e54f6b36/new-campaign-unhcr-launches-global-campaignstateless-millions.html. 33 Rachel Brett, Using the UPR to Address Statelessness, 14 May 2015, available at http://www.statelessness.eu/blog/using-upr-address-statelessness. 34 See UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme, EC/66/SC/CRP.10, 8 June 2015, pg. 30. “At the national level, respect for the rule of law requires States to provide a safe and rights-respecting environment, supported by a functioning judicial sector and other accountability structures. In response to displacement and statelessness, this means that domestic laws and policies need to be framed fairly and nonarbitrarily, taking into account age, gender and diversity considerations. Strong national law and policies governing displacement can lead to more effective responses in situations of crisis. By aiming to achieve legal certainty in the application of rules, as well as accountability, equity and transparency in governance, national protection systems based on the rule of law ensure that the displaced can exercise their rights freely, in accordance with the law. Civil society, the legal community and persons of concern play an important role in working with States and UNHCR to identify challenges and potential responses, and to advance accountability." 35 UNHCR Global Trends 2015, Annex tables, available at http://www.unhcr.org/global-trends-2015.html. 36 The World Justice Rule of Law Index relies on over 100,000 household and expert surveys to measure how the rule of law is experienced in everyday life around the world. Performance is assessed through 44 indicators organized around 8 themes: constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice, and criminal justice. World Justice Project, Rule of Law Index, 2015, available at http://worldjusticeproject.org/rule-law-around-world. 7