Onward

Here’s What It’s Like to Be Stateless

   2 Minute Read
--
   media in May, one of his chief laments was that, with his passport
   deactivated and threat of jail time in the United States, he had turned
   into a stateless person. From his apartment in Moscow, where he is
   neither a citizen nor allowed to stay any longer than his visa can be
   renewed, he claimed he simply has no viable place to go.
--
   others. According to the United Nations and its refugee arm, the Office
   of the High Commissioner for Refugees, there are more than 10 million
   people worldwide. This amounts to a new stateless baby born every 10
   minutes. They’re born with no country, no documentation, little social
   support, and hardly any opportunity to advance.

   Statelessness is a simple concept, although the causes are less clear.
   Sometimes war and conflict drive people from their homes. Other
   countries with poor social institutions can’t provide the paperwork or
   documents needed to travel abroad. One on hand, stateless people tend
   not to be charged taxes. They’re frequently exempt from unfair
   regulations or things like military drafts. Yet living off government
--
   always clear.

   More than a third of the stateless are children, a statistic the U.N.
   hopes will encourage countries to deal with the stateless among them.
   By 2025, the organization hopes to eliminate statelessness entirely,
   from 10 million to zero. It’s not as easy as just granting status and
   distributing passports. One primary hurdle is compiling accurate
   numbers of stateless people, an inherent challenge with people living
   in the shadows. Persuading countries to grant legal status—as President
   Obama is expected to do this month for five million immigrants in the