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Statelessness in the Canadian Context an Updated Discussion Paper

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Statelessness in the Canadian Context an Updated Discussion Paper Statelessness in the Canadian Context An updated discussion paper Revised March 2012 Statelessness in the Canadian context: an updated discussion paper Revised March 2012 This paper was researched and written for UNHCR by Andrew Brouwer The author would like to thank Furio De Angelis, UNHCR Representative in Canada, Rana Khan, UNHCR Legal Officer, and Nadine Edirmanasinghe, UNHCR Associate Legal Officer, for their assistance and support for this update of the original July 2003 discussion paper. In addition, the author thanks Judith Kumin, former UNHCR Representative in Canada, Christine Aubin, former UNHCR Legal Officer; Carol Batchelor, former Senior Legal Officer (statelessness) UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva; Glynis Williams of Action Réfugiés Montréal and Ezat Mossallenejad of the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture for their support and assistance with the original paper. Copyright: UNHCR, March 2012. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or UNHCR. This paper may be freely quoted, cited and copied for academic, educational or other non-commercial purposes without prior permission from UNHCR, provided that the source and the author are acknowledged. Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................ 5 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 7 Impact of statelessness ................................................................................................................ 12 Citizenship and Statelessness: The Issues ..................................................................................... 15 The definition of a “statelessness person” ...............................................................................15 The International Legal Regime .................................................................................................... 19 The 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons ............................................... 20 71 States Parties to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons ........................22 The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness ....................................................................23 42 States Parties to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness .....................................24 The continuing regulatory gap: de facto stateless who are not refugees ............................................24 International Human Rights Instruments ................................................................................... 26 Statelessness in Canadian Law and Practice ................................................................................ 31 Avoiding statelessness ................................................................................................................ 33 The Citizenship Act ..............................................................................................................................33 “Lost Canadians” ..............................................................................................................................35 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................37 Protecting the stateless ............................................................................................................... 37 In-Canada programs ..........................................................................................................................38 Refugee protection ..............................................................................................................................38 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................46 Permanent residence ..........................................................................................................................47 Recommendation ..........................................................................................................................49 Naturalization ....................................................................................................................................49 Recommendation ..........................................................................................................................50 Overseas programs .............................................................................................................................51 Refugee resettlement ...........................................................................................................................51 Recommendation ..........................................................................................................................51 Immigration .........................................................................................................................................52 Recommendation ..........................................................................................................................52 Travel Documents ....................................................................................................................... 52 Detention and Removal .............................................................................................................. 53 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................57 Data Collection on Stateless Persons .......................................................................................... 57 Refugee determination data ................................................................................................................58 Resettlement data ...............................................................................................................................60 Data on Humanitarian or Compassionate (H&C) landing applications ...........................................60 Detention data ....................................................................................................................................61 Data on Removals ..............................................................................................................................62 Recommendation ..........................................................................................................................62 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 63 APPENDIX A: Summary of recommendations ......................................................................... 66 APPENDIX B: Main Provisions of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons .................................................................................. 69 APPENDIX C: Main Provisions of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness .............................................................................................. 72 APPENDIX D: CIC Statistics on Statelessness ......................................................................... 75 APPENDIX E: Statistics from Canada Border Services Agency ............................................... 77 Sources ............................................................................................................................................... 80 Photo Credits .................................................................................................................................... 87 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Executive Summary his updated version of a 2003 report on statelessness in Canada, was published following the December 2011 Ministerial Meeting in Geneva convened by UNHCR in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, as well as the 50th anniversary of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. The Meeting was attended by 155 countries, including 72 Ministerial level delegations, and represented the largest meeting ever dedicated to the protection of refugees and stateless persons. The Ministerial Meeting was part of a major push by UNHCR to combat statelessness - a problem affecting as many as 12 million people worldwide. The Meeting’s main goal was to bring about strengthened support for the bedrock principles by which the international community has for more than half a century dealt with refugees, other displaced, and stateless people. The Meeting generated two main outcomes: action-oriented commitments by states to address particular displacement and statelessness issues, in the form of pledges, and a forward-looking Ministerial Communiqué adopted by all participating states. As a result of advocacy efforts during 2011, seven countries acceded to one or both of the statelessness conventions and another 25 countries pledged their future accession during the Ministerial meeting.1 Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides: “Everyone has the right to a nationality.” Sometimes called “the right to have rights,” nationality or citizenship is the fundamental criterion differentiating “insiders” who may benefit from the protection of the state and actively participate
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