“Stateless people are treated with suspicion, as people in between, without a clear identity or belonging. It is a status that elicits racism and xenophobia of the worst sort ... It is often the symptom and the cause of discrimination.” Radhika Coomaraswamy Member of the UN Human Rights Council Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar and former Under-Secretary-General of the UN, Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict A t least 75% of the world’s known stateless persons belong to minority communities. Whether exclusion is intentional or due to historical accidents, statelessness is a defining characteristic and a basis for exclusion. Statelessness as a result of state succession or decolonisation is likely inflicted on minorities perceived as outsiders brought in by former colonial powers or as a group loyal to the previous larger state. Poor administrative practices, such as lack of birth registration, disproportionately impact racial and ethnic minorities who cannot access registries. The theme of discrimination against minorities (on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, language and other such characteristics) resonated throughout the conference, and was addressed in grand challenges sessions, other sessions and workshops as well as the CANCELLED art programme. Two of the grand challenge sessions addressed discrimination against minorities head-on. Grand Challenge 6 ‘Breaking the Cycle of Exclusion for Stateless Minorities’ looked at stateless minorities, minorities at risk of statelessness, and those who have fought for their nationality to be restored. The panel consensus was that statelessness faced by minorities is often intentional and the result of state policies, legislation and practices, discriminating against minorities in their access to citizenship. 22 Speaking on this panel, UN Special rapporteur on Minority Issues, Fernand de Varennes stated: “Statelessness does not simply happen. What we have here are the results of policies, practices and legislation that target minorities.” Not enough is being done to combat statelessness with the speakers referencing for example the continued effects today of the forceful relocation of members of the Nubian community from Sudan to Kenya; and others referring to communities who have gained citizenship yet still face discrimination with continued lack of access to rights. Statelessness continues to be on the rise and situations of mass statelessness are looming. Panellists also spoke of the threat of mass deprivation of nationality in Assam, India; a concern which played out just two months after the conference, with 1.9 million people mainly from the minority Muslim Bengali community, being pushed onto the brink of statelessness.