1 UN Key Messages on Statelessness the Way Forward
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Children's Right to a Nationality
OPEN SOCIETY JUSTICE INITIATIVE Children’s right to a nationality Statelessness affects more than 12 million people around the world, among whom the most vulnerable are children. The Open Society Justice Initiative estimates that as many as 5 million may be minors. The consequences of lack of nationality are numerous and severe. Many stateless children grow up in extreme poverty and are denied basic rights and services such as access to education and health care. Stateless children‟s lack of identity documentation limits their freedom of movement. They are subject to arbitrary deportations and prolonged detentions, are vulnerable to social exclusion, trafficking and exploitation—including child labor. Despite its importance, children‟s right to a nationality rarely gets the urgent attention it needs. Children’s right to nationality The right to a nationality is protected under At the very least, the right to acquire a nationality under international law. The Universal Declaration of Human the CRC should be understood to mean that children Rights provides a general right to nationality under have a right to nationality in their country of birth if article 15. The international human rights treaties— they do not acquire another nationality from birth—in including the Convention on the Rights of the Child other words, if they would otherwise be stateless. In (CRC) and the International Covenant on Civil and fact, this particular principle is recognized in regional Political Rights (ICCPR)—as well as the Convention on systems as well as in the Convention on the Reduction the Reduction of Statelessness, provide particular norms of Statelessness. -
The Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China and the Overseas Chinese in Hong Kong, Macao and Southeast Asia
NYLS Journal of International and Comparative Law Volume 5 Article 6 Number 2 Volume 5, Numbers 2 & 3, 1984 1984 The aN tionality Law of the People's Republic of China and the Overseas Chinese in Hong Kong, Macao and Southeast Asia Tung-Pi Chen Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/ journal_of_international_and_comparative_law Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Chen, Tung-Pi (1984) "The aN tionality Law of the People's Republic of China and the Overseas Chinese in Hong Kong, Macao and Southeast Asia," NYLS Journal of International and Comparative Law: Vol. 5 : No. 2 , Article 6. Available at: https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/journal_of_international_and_comparative_law/vol5/iss2/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@NYLS. It has been accepted for inclusion in NYLS Journal of International and Comparative Law by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@NYLS. THE NATIONALITY LAW OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND THE OVERSEAS CHINESE IN HONG KONG, MACAO AND SOUTHEAST ASIA TUNG-PI CHEN* INTRODUCTION After thirty years of existence, the Government of the People's Re- public of China (PRC) enacted the long-awaited Nationality Law in 1980.1 Based on the PRC Government's enduring principle of racial and sexual equality, the new law is designed to reduce dual nationality and statelessness by combining the principles of jus sanguinis and jus soli to determine nationality at birth. The need for a Chinese national- ity law had long been recognized, but it was not until the adoption of the "open door" policy in 1978 after the downfall of the "Gang of Four," as well as the institution of codification efforts, that the urgency of the task was recognized. -
Mr Al-Jedda, Deprivation of Citizenship, and International Law
Mr Al-Jedda, Deprivation of Citizenship, and International Law Guy S. Goodwin-Gill1 Revised draft of a paper presented at a Seminar at Middlesex University on 14 February 2014 1. The Background in Brief Mr Al-Jedda was a refugee from Iraq. He was granted asylum in the United Kingdom and duly acquired British citizenship by naturalisation; as a consequence, he lost his Iraqi citizenship by operation of law. During the course of the war with Iraq, he was detained there and held by the British military on security grounds. He was released in December 2006, shortly after the Secretary of State made an order purporting to deprive him of his British citizenship. He appealed to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission in 2008, where argument focused on, among other issues, whether Occupying Powers are competent to legislate on nationality, and on the meaning and scope of various legal instruments, including the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) decreed by the Coalition Provisional Authority and the 2006 Iraqi Nationality Law. SIAC rejected his appeal, finding that he was an Iraqi citizen. This was overturned by the Court of Appeal, which referred the matter back to SIAC. SIAC again found against Mr Al-Jedda, but was again overruled by the Court of Appeal which held that he had automatically lost Iraqi citizenship on acquiring British citizenship, and that he had not automatically regained it either under the TAL or the 2006 Law. Consequently, he could not lawfully be deprived of his British citizenship, as this would render him stateless. The Secretary of State appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that under section 40 of the British Nationality Act, she could be ‘satisfied’ that the making of a deprivation order would not render the individual concerned stateless if there was another nationality ‘option’, for example, if that person ‘could’ apply elsewhere, and ‘would be’ granted citizenship. -
Who Is Stateless and Why?
Who is stateless and why?: Exploring how the UN and the international community are addressing statelessness by comparing two case studies of Syrian refugees living in Lebanon and Jordan. Jillian H. Pflederer TC 660H Plan II Honors Program The University of Texas at Austin April 9th, 2019 __________________________________ Dr. Ruth Wasem Clinical Professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs Supervising Professor __________________________________ Robert M. Chesney Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the University of Texas School of Law Second Reader 1 Abstract: Author: Jillian H. Pflederer Title: Who is stateless and why?: Exploring how the UN and the international community are addressing statelessness by comparing two case studies of Syrian refugees living in Lebanon and Jordan. Supervising Professor: Dr. Ruth Wasem This thesis will explore how the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is addressing statelessness as an international crisis and their #IBelong campaign to eradicate statelessness by 2024. Next, it will define what statelessness is and how someone is determined to be stateless concerning the recommendations of UNHCR and international humanitarian law. Finally, it will focus on two case studies of how statelessness is affecting Jordan and Lebanon. The phenomenon of statelessness is not new. However, since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War, statelessness has become prominent among Syrian refugees living in Jordan and Lebanon. Both countries have strict citizenship laws which rule nationality can only pass on to a child through the father. Refugee children born to families with a Syrian father or fathers who died in the conflict are left without a nationality. Many children who fled Syria lack birth certificates and others who are born in refugee camps lack a claim to nationality. -
Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration Sixth Floor, 131 Queen Street House of Commons Ottawa on K1A 0A6 Canada
Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration Sixth Floor, 131 Queen Street House of Commons Ottawa ON K1A 0A6 Canada April 13, 2016 Re: Bill C-6 and Amendments related to Statelessness Dear, Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration The Canadian Centre on Statelessness requests that the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration take the opportunity to consider the perspective of the stateless community in Canada as it assesses Bill C-6. Canada’s Citizenship Act presents several challenges with respect to statelessness and stateless persons in Canada in terms of discrimination and access to justice. International law holds that a person is deemed stateless if no state considers her or him to be a citizen under the “operation of its law”. This means a stateless person does not have a nationality or legal identity and lives without basic human rights. The lived reality of statelessness, or not being a citizen of any country, is often described as a life in the shadows and without hope. Statelessness affects an estimated 10 million people worldwide. Stateless people may be refugees, or they may not. Statelessness can occur in myriad of ways. They may have lost their citizenship when the country they were born in was in conflict. Women are disproportionately affected as many lose their citizenship when they marry a foreigner. Statelessness can occur because of ethnic discrimination against minority groups in nationality legislation, birth registration laws, and conflicting laws between states. In Canada, statelessness can occur in two ways: one is in the context of migration which includes those who are stateless when they arrive in Canada, and those who become stateless after they arrive in Canada. -
Migrants Resource Centre, University of Liverpool Law Clinic, European Network on Statelessness, and Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion
Migrants Resource Centre, University of Liverpool Law Clinic, European Network on Statelessness, and Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council at the 27th Session of the Universal Periodic Review United Kingdom Introduction 1. Migrants Resource Centre, the European Network on Statelessness, the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, and the University of Liverpool Law Clinic make this submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in relation to statelessness, access to nationality and the right to liberty and respect for human rights of stateless persons in the United Kingdom. This joint submission draws on the combined expertise of the submitting organisations in the UK and internationally. 2. Migrants Resource Centre (MRC) is a non-profit organisation founded in 1984 which hosts Asylum Aid and the Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens (PRCBC). Asylum Aid provides free legal representation to asylum seekers and stateless persons; undertakes related policy work, advocacy and education; and played a key role in researching statelessness1 and pressuring the UK Government to introduce a statelessness determination procedure. PRCBC provides legal advice and assistance and conducts research and education relating to the registration of children as British citizens. 3. The Liverpool Law Clinic is part of the School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool. It is staffed by practising lawyers who, since 2013, advise and represent people in the UK’s statelessness determination procedure. It has collaborated with UNHCR2 and met with Home Office officials to press for changes to practice and policy. The Clinic and the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association are publishing a Best Practice Guide relating to statelessness applications in the UK.3 4. -
Stateless Palestinians by Abbas Shiblak
8 PALESTINIAN DISPLACEMENT FMR 26 Stateless Palestinians by Abbas Shiblak Palestinians are the largest stateless community country (Israel) to host states. Two in the world. Statelessness has dominated and main principles – set out in an Arab League protocol signed in Casablanca shaped the lives of four generations of Palestinian in 19651 – have determined the refugees since their exodus in 1948. treatment of Palestinian refugees in host Arab states: granting Palestinian One of the main objectives of the non-Jewish population to return to refugees full citizenship rights Zionist scheme in Palestine was their homes while endorsing the right – but denying them naturalisation eradication of Palestine from the of any Jew – regardless of place of – and issuing them with Refugee map, both as a political entity and origin – to unrestricted immigration Travel Documents (RTD) in order a basis of nationality. Today more and automatic citizenship. to maintain their refugee status. than half of the eight million or so Palestinians are considered to be Similar policies were pursued The pan-Arab national brotherhood de jure stateless persons. These fall following occupation of the of the 1950s and 1960s has faded broadly into three categories: West Bank in 1967. In defiance of away, to be replaced by a self-centred international law, Israel considers agenda of fragmented, sub-national n holders of the ‘Refugee Travel all Palestinians inhabitants of the states and narrow interests. Syria Document’ (RTD) issued by occupied Palestinian territory is the only country that upholds its Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq and (OPT) as non-citizens and foreign commitment. Some states, including some other Arab countries residents. -
Stateless Individuals
Human Rights Council Márton Levente Sipos and Tessel Hopmans Research Report The Question of: Stateless individuals Research Report Leiden Model United Nations 2018 ~ fresh ideas, new solutions ~ Introduction Nowadays approximately 10 million people around the world are lacking/have been denied a nationality, resulting in them not being able to exercise their basic human rights, like attending schools, seeing a doctor or working. Stateless people lack the right to get married or to travel freely (sometimes even within the country). They are living in constant fear and they face enormous barriers throughout their lives, only because they became the victims of bureaucracy. Often governments use statelessness as a tool to deal with certain ethnic or religious groups. If these ethnic groups lack legal nationality, then they are practically trapped in the region where they are in constant danger. A great example would be the migrants of Burkinabé (approx. 700 000 people) descent in Cote d'Ivoire, who did not get Ivorian nationality after the country’s independence from France in 1960. We must not forget that stateless individuals are people as well, especially if we consider the very much existent workforce vacuum present. Without properly addressing this issue the number of people without a nationality will continue to grow and it will become gradually harder to find a solution. The Committee The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR for short) is a United Nations body to promote and protect human rights around the world. The committee has 47 members elected for 3-year terms. The headquarters are not in New York, but in Geneva, Switzerland. -
Nationality and Statelessness: a Handbook for Parliamentarians
Handbook for Parliamentarians n° 11 - 2005 UNHCR A Handbook for Parliamentarians Nationality and Statelessness: Nationality and Statelessness: A Handbook for Parliamentarians “Citizenship is man’s basic right for it is nothing less than the right to have rights” Chief Justice Earl Warren (USA 1958). IPU INTER-PARLIAMENTARY INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION UNION Nationality and Statelessness A Handbook for Parliamentarians Acknowledgements This handbook was prepared with the cooperation of the Bureau of the Inter- Parliamentary Union’s Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights. Research and analysis: Carol Batchelor and Philippe Leclerc (UNHCR) Writer: Ms. Marilyn Achiron Editorial Board: UNHCR: Erika Feller, Philippe Leclerc, José Riera and Sara Baschetti IPU: Anders B. Johnsson and Kareen Jabre Original version: English Cover design by Jacques Wandfluh, Studio Infographie, Switzerland Printed in Switzerland by Presses Centrales de Lausanne 2 Foreword “Everyone has the right to a nationality. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.” With those succinct statements, Article 15 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights confers upon every individual, everywhere in the world, the right to have a legal connection with a State. Citizenship or nationality (the two terms are used interchangeably in this hanbook, just as they usually are in international law) not only provides people with a sense of identity, it entitles individuals to the protection of a State and to many civil and political rights. Indeed, citizenship has been described as “the right to have rights.” Despite the body of international law relating to the acquisition, loss, or denial of citizenship, millions of people around the world have no nationality. -
What Is Statelessness? © UNHCR / R
What is Statelessness? © UNHCR / R. Arnold It is estimated that at least 10 million people are stateless worldwide: they are not considered as nationals by any State under the operation of its law. Statelessness is sometimes referred to as an invisible problem because stateless people often remain unseen and unheard. They often aren’t allowed to go to school, see a doctor, get a job, open a bank account, buy a house or even get married. Denial of these rights impacts not only the individuals concerned but also society as a whole, in particular because excluding an entire sector of the population can lead to social tensions and significantly impair economic and social development. HOW DO PEOPLE BECOME STATELESS? WHERE DO THEY LIVE? Statelessness can be caused by a number of factors such as: Although statelessness may in many contexts be a hidden discrimination in nationality laws (e.g. racial, religious or problem, stateless people are found in all regions of the world. gender), conflict between and gaps in nationality laws and The majority of statelessness people were born in the countries State succession. Being undocumented is not the same as being in which they have lived their entire lives. Countries with notably stateless. However lack of birth registration can put people large stateless populations include Myanmar, Kuwait, Cote at risk of statelessness as a birth certificate provides proof d’Ivoire, Thailand, Iraq, and the Dominican Republic. Significant of where a person was born and parentage – key information populations also live in the countries around the world which needed to establish a nationality. -
'Unmaking Americans. Insecure Citizenship in the United States'
UNMAKING AMERICANS INSECURE CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES INSECURE CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATEs 1 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The lead author of this report is Laura Bingham, senior managing legal officer of the Open Society Justice Initiative. The report was co-authored by Natasha Arnpriester, a Justice Initiative Aryeh Neier Fellow, without whose outstanding contributions, including extensive research and data analysis on denaturalizations, the report would not have been possible. The report was edited by David Berry and James A. Goldston. Many others have contributed to the report from within and outside the organization. Special thanks to the many colleagues from the Open Society Foundations who have guided the development and drafting of the report, in particular: Brooke Havlik, Angela Kelley, Wendy Patten, Maggie Soladay, Betsy Apple, Erika Dailey, Robert O. Varenik, Michèle Eken, and Laura Lázaro Cabrera. Deepest thanks to all those who dedicated their time and shared their personal histories and professional experience in order to inform the report, with the hope that it does justice to their contributions. We are likewise grateful for the pro bono research assistance provided by attorneys from a number of law firms including White & Case, LLP, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, and Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. For more information contact: Laura Bingham Senior Managing Legal Officer Open Society Justice Initiative [email protected] 2 UNMAKING AMERICANS © 2019 Open Society Foundations This publication is available as a PDF on the Open Society Foundations website under a Creative Commons license that allows copying and distributing the publication, only in its entirety, as long as it is attributed to the Open Society Foundations and used for noncommercial educational or public policy purposes. -
STATELESSNESS in AUSTRALIA August 2015
STATELESSNESS IN AUSTRALIA August 2015 Sydney office: Melbourne office: Suite 4A6, 410 Elizabeth Street Level 2, 313-315 Flinders Lane Surry Hills NSW 2010 Australia Melbourne VIC 3000 Australia Phone: (02) 9211 9333 ● Fax: (02) 9211 9288 Phone: (03) 9600 3302 [email protected] [email protected] Web: www.refugeecouncil.org.au ●Twitter: @OzRefugeeCounc Incorporated in ACT ● ABN 87 956 673 083 CONTENTS 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 3 2. Background .............................................................................................................................. 4 2.1. Definitions of statelessness ........................................................................................................ 4 2.2. Causes of statelessness ............................................................................................................. 4 2.3. Impacts of statelessness ............................................................................................................ 5 2.4. Stateless people worldwide ........................................................................................................ 5 2.5. Statelessness in international law .............................................................................................. 7 2.6. Global efforts to address statelessness ...................................................................................... 9 2.7. Stateless