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Nationality and Statelessness: a Handbook for Parliamentarians

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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. They are stateless. Statelessness may result from a variety of causes, including conflict of laws, the transfer of territory, marriage laws, administrative practices, discrimination, lack of birth registration, denationalization (when a State rescinds an individual’s nationality), and renunciation (when an individual refuses the protection of a State). Many of the world’s stateless persons are also victims of forced displacement. People who have been uprooted from their homes are particularly vulnerable to statelessness, especially when their displacement is accompanied or followed by a redrawing of territorial boundaries. Conversely, stateless and denationalized individuals have often been obliged to flee their usual place of residence. It is this link with refugee situations that initially led the United Nations General Assembly to designate the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as the agency responsible for overseeing the prevention and reduction of statelessness. According to recent estimates there are some eleven million stateless persons around the world. But this number is a “guesstimate”. It has been very difficult for organizations to collect comprehensive data on the number of stateless persons because the concept of statelessness is disputed among countries, because governments are often reluctant to disclose information about statelessness, and because the issue of statelessness is not high on the international community’s agenda. In recent years, however, the international community has become more aware that respect for human rights helps to prevent mass exoduses and forced displacements. Similarly, there is growing awareness, based on the principles contained in international treaties, that States are obliged to resolve problems of statelessness. Governments must acknowledge, formally and in practice, that they do not have the right to withdraw or withhold the benefits of citizenship from individuals who can demonstrate a genuine and effective link with the country. The best way that parliamentarians can demonstrate their determination to reduce or eliminate the incidence of statelessness is to adopt national legislation that is consistent with international law, that ensures that individuals will not be arbitrarily deprived of nationality, that persons will be granted a nationality under certain circumstances in which they might otherwise be stateless, and that adequate protection will be available 3 to those who remain or become stateless. Parliamentarians can also play an important “watchdog” role by helping to ensure that the policies of a State do not inadvertently or deliberately render individuals stateless, by encouraging their governments to resolve the cases of individuals who are stateless, and by raising awareness about the problems associated with statelessness among their constituents. This handbook presents related issues, provides possible solutions, and suggests actions that members of parliament can take without losing sight of the human dimension of statelessness. We hope that it will serve as a useful tool for parliamentarians in taking all necessary steps to reduce and ultimately eliminate this phenomenon, which adversely affects the lives of millions of men, women and children around the world. António Guterres Anders B. Johnsson United Nations Secretary General High Commissioner for Refugees Inter-Parliamentary Union 4 Table of Contents Acknowledgements 2 Foreword 3 Introduction 6 Chapter 1: The International Legal Framework for the Right to a Nationality and for the Reduction of Statelessness 8 Chapter 2: Identifying and Protecting Stateless Persons 17 Chapter 3: Eliminating the Causes of Statelessness 27 Chapter 4: UNHCR’s Role 43 Chapter 5: How Parliamentarians Can Help 48 Annex 1: States Parties to the 1954 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons 53 Annex 2: States Parties to the 1961 United Nations Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness 55 Annex 3: Model Instruments of Accession 56 Annex 4: UNHCR Representations 58 UNHCR and IPU in Brief 67 5 Introduction Those of us who are citizens of a country usually take for granted the rights and obligations that citizenship confers on us. Most of us can enroll our children in schools, seek medical attention when we are sick, apply for employment when we need to, and vote to elect our representatives in government. We feel we have a stake in the country in which we live; we feel a profound sense of belonging to something greater than our individual selves. But what is life like for persons who have no nationality, who are stateless? Without citizenship, a person cannot register to vote in the country in which he/she is living, cannot apply for a travel document, cannot register to marry. In some instances, individuals who are stateless and are outside their country of origin or country of former residence can be detained for long periods if those countries refuse to grant them re-entry to their territories. Often, even the most basic of rights – the rights to education, medical care, and employment – are denied to individuals who cannot prove a legal connection with a country. “Being said ‘No’ to by the country where I live; being said ‘No’ to by the country where I was born; being said ‘No’ to by the country where my parents are from; hearing ‘you do not belong to us’ continuously! I feel I am nobody and don’t even know why I’m living. Being stateless, you are always surrounded by a sense of worthlessness.” Lara, who was formerly stateless A survey on statelessness conducted by UNHCR in 2003 confirms that no region of the world is free of the problems that lead to statelessness. However, the precise number of stateless persons around the world is unknown. States are often unwilling or unable to provide accurate data; few have mechanisms for registering stateless persons. Indeed, there is no clear requirement for States to report on the numbers of stateless persons living on their territories. UNHCR estimates that millions of people around the world are living without an effective nationality. Statelessness, which was first recognized as a global problem during the first half of the 20th century, can result from disputes between States about the legal identity of individuals, State succession, protracted marginalization of specific groups within the society, or from stripping individuals or groups of their nationality. Statelessness is normally associated with periods of profound change in international relations. The redrawing of international borders, the manipulation of political systems by national leaders with the aim of achieving questionable political ends, and/or the denial or deprivation of nationality to exclude and marginalize unpopular racial, religious, or ethnic minorities have resulted in statelessness in every region of the world. In the past 20 years, growing numbers of persons have been deprived of their nationality or have not been able to gain an effective citizenship. If these situations are allowed to continue, the deepening sense of disenfranchisement among the affected populations can eventually lead to displacement. 6 “To be stripped of citizenship is to be stripped of worldliness; it is like returning to a wilderness as cavemen or savages… A man who is nothing but a man has lost the very qualities which make it possible for other people to treat him as a fellow man… they could live and die without leaving any trace, without having contributed anything to the common world.” Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism This handbook aims to provide parliamentarians with a broad description of the international principles regulating nationality and statelessness. International
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