Canadian Centre on Statelessness ____________________ * About -- + Get Involved + Contact Us * Statelessness + What is Statelessness? + Who is Stateless? + International Principles + Who is Stateless in Canada? + Categories and Legislation + Canada -- + Get Involved + Contact Us * Statelessness + What is Statelessness? + Who is Stateless? + International Principles + Who is Stateless in Canada? + Categories and Legislation + Canada -- YOUR CART Who is affected by statelessness? Millions of people around the world are without a nationality. These are women, men, children, entire families, ethnic groups, and statelessness can happen at birth, or well into old age. Because citizenship is based on country nationality law, and laws change, people can think and feel that they are citizens of a particular place -- identity document, access a government service, or travel.  There are several ways statelessness can occur: State Succession Unions of countries or individual countries break apart, and the -- Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 resulted in thousands of cases of statelessness in the Baltic states and in Eastern Europe. The UNHCR reports that several countries were affected, resulting in at least 680,000 people in Europe alone living without a nationality. These include "people with expired Soviet passports who have not been able to acquire the nationality of the state in which they reside since the break-up of the Soviet Union" (UNHCR, Statelessness in Central Asia). Yugoslavia -- in 1992. The UNHCR reports that "in the countries that once made up Yugoslavia, groups of people fell between the cracks created by new nationality laws and became stateless. Though many have managed to establish their nationality, members of minority groups in south-eastern Europe, especially the Roma, continue to face difficulties accessing the documents necessary to confirm nationality. Throughout Europe, gaps in nationality legislation continue to create situations of statelessness" (UNHCR, Report on Statelessness in South Eastern Europe). Country and ethnic group summaries can be accessed on the region pages of the International Observatory on Statelessness. Disputed Territory Parents who have a child in a disputed territory are often unable to register the birth of their child, and the child remains without a nationality, stateless. This can happen because government is no longer functioning. Palestinians The most widely known example of this type of statelessness is the case of the Palestinians. According to the Canadian Council for Refugees "Palestinians represent the largest stateless community in the world: more than half of the eight million or so Palestinians are considered to be de jure [emphasis added] stateless persons" (CCR, Statelessness). For more information on Palestinian statelessness, see: ​ United Nations and Relief Works Agency, http://www.unrwa.org/ Abbas Shiblak, 2006, Stateless Palestinians Women Statelessness overwhelmingly affects women. Victims of trafficking often have their travel documents taken from them, leaving them unable to prove their identities. Many women find themselves victims of gender-based-violence and exploited into global trafficking rings, where they are often alone, prone to abuse and with little societal or legal support. For information on statelessness and trafficking, see: Pascale McLean, 2011, Incomplete Citizenship, Statelessness and Human Trafficking: A Preliminary Analysis of the Current Situation in West Bengal, India Vital Voices, 2007, Stateless and Vulnerable to Human Trafficking in Thailand United States Department of State, 2009, Trafficking in Persons Report Alice Edwards, 2009, Displacement, Statelessness and Questions of Gender Equality and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women -- marriage, and are sometimes refused access to services in both the country of their birth, and their husband's home country. For information on statelessness and marriage, see: Radha Govil and Alice Edwards, 2014, "Women, nationality and statelessness: the problem of unequal rights". Edited by Alice Edwards and Laura van Waas, Nationality and Statelessness under International Law Zahra Albarazi and Laura van Waas, 2014, Towards the abolition of gender discrimination in nationality laws A summary of gender discrimination and statelessness prepared by the Women's Refugee Commission can be seen here. -- Children Children are affected by statelessness in several ways. Nationality laws that dictate citizenship rules for their parents affect children. The result is that children are born limited in the services they can -- more information see: Gerard-Rene de Groot, 2014, "Children, their right to a nationality and child statelessness". Edited by Alice Edwards and Laura van Waas, Nationality and Statelessness under International Law An emerging concern is the practice of international surrogacy and the effects on children. Legal challenges are increasing as children are born in one country and adopted in another. For more information see: Debra Wilson, 2014, Stranded and Stateless: International Surrogacy's Legal Nightmare Jyothi Kanics, 2014, Preventing and Addressing Stateless In the Context of International Surrogacy Arrangements Ethnic Groups Minority ethnic groups are particularly vulnerable to statelessness, often discriminated against as a result of nationality legislation. In addition many minority ethnic groups around the world struggle to -- Nepal, and Haitian descendants in Dominican Republic. Country and ethnic group summaries can be accessed on the region pages of the International Observatory on Statelessness. Personal accounts of living without a nationality can be seen by visiting UNHCR's #IBelong campaign. -- Picture ​Canadian Centre on Statelessness 2020 __________________________________________________________________