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   Blog - Latest News

   Foreign Policy, Global Poverty, Government

How Statelessness Affects Global Poverty

   Statelessness

   Statelessness is as much of an economic burden as it is a social and
   political one. According to a recent Foreign Policy article,
   statelessness results in “chronic economic instability” because it is
   often accompanied by joblessness and poverty.

   According to the U.S. Department of State, a stateless person is
   someone who does not “enjoy” the rights of  “citizenship – the legal
   bond between a government and an individual – in any country.” In other
   words, these individuals do not have the same rights and opportunities
   as people who are recognized as citizens by the nations in which they
   live.

   Although the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees counted 3.5 million
   stateless people in 2011, they estimated that the number could be as
   high as 12 million people. Foreign Policy reports that as many as 15
   million people might be stateless today.

   The Department of State notes that the causes of statelessness are
   diverse. They include failure to register newborns properly, birth to
   stateless parents, discrimination against minorities and traditional
   attitudes towards registration, to name a few.

   Not only are stateless people denied government-issued identification,
   preventing them from acquiring formal labor jobs, but they are also
   subjects of social discrimination. These realities exclude them from
   even more employment opportunities, leads to fewer chances of regular
   employment and leaves stateless persons even more destitute.

   IFRAME:
   https://www.youtube.com/embed/5JL1sp5XS-U?rel=0&controls=0&showinfo=0

   Foreign Policy also reports that very little research exists about the
   effects of statelessness on economies. Some existing studies suggest
   that stateless persons have a negative economic impact on smaller
   nations in which they may make up a more significant percentage of the
   population. In this case, granting citizenship to stateless
   persons might actually improve these nations’ gross domestic product
   output.

   Although stateless individuals can obtain cards which signify their
   status, only a few thousand people have been able to take advantage of
   this opportunity. One of the Sustainable Development Goals of the
   United Nations aims to provide everyone with legal identity by 2030,
   which will give people access to formal job markets and increase
   economic opportunities for individuals and nations.

   The U.S. State Department suggests that universal birth registration
   and increasing access to naturalization and citizenship will help solve
   statelessness. As Foreign Policy points out, nations must want to
   increase inclusiveness with stateless persons and cease the use of
   political reasoning for ostracizing them before changes can occur.

   Policies and prejudices might take many years to change, but the
   economic, social and humanitarian advantages of granting citizenship to
   stateless people are worth the fight.

   – Addie Pazzynski

   Photo: UNHCR
   July 24, 2016/by Borgen Project

   Tags: Foreign Policy Magazine, Sustainable Development Goals, UNHCR

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   all.jpg Borgen Project2016-07-24 01:30:372020-06-18 13:11:17How
   Statelessness Affects Global Poverty

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