Statelessness And Homelessness

First to address this problem was the newly formed United Nations in 1945. Since then, the stateless have been described as „not considered as nationals by any state in the world“. Those affected are often of racial and ethnic minorities, who are usually victims of state repression and discrimination. Many of these minorities live in states where they are eligible for citizenship but are deprived of this right. This right is recorded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) Article 15; and it states that ‘(i) Everyone has the right to a nationality, (ii) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality‘. (UDHR; 1948)
The problem with statelessness and the stateless is that, although
Their main interests include giving the stateless rights so they can be somewhat protected, and reducing the number of stateless people. These organizations also try to abolish, or at least lessen, the issue of denationalization, which according to Amnesty International (2013) is a ‘violation of fundamental human rights‘. These NGOs address the problem of statelessness through advocacy, prosecution and legal aid by which they support the work of UNHCR. At the same time, ‘UNHCR continues to provide technical advice to governments to reform nationality laws, policies and procedures to close legal gaps that may lead to statelessness, to ensure that stateless people can acquire a nationality and that they are identified and protected‘. (UNHCR;
Actions are being taken by NGOs, such as Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch, which contribute to work of UNHCR all around the world. Even though all these actors are contributing to the progress, statelessness will be a problem for a long run. In the past, 2 conventions took place and established the basic laws regarding the stateless and together they form a legal framework addressing statelessness. Causes behind statelessness differ and the main ones include state succession, and discrimination and deprivation of nationality.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1. Blitz, Brad K., and Maureen Lynch. Statelessness and Citizenship: A Comparative Study on the Benefits of Nationality. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2011; pp. 1 - 10.
2. Sawyer, Caroline, and Brad K. Blitz. Statelessness in the European Union: Displaced, Undocumented, Unwanted. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011; pp. 3 - 6.
3. Staples, Kelly. Retheorising Statelessness: A Background Theory of Membership in World Politics, 2012; pp. 1 - 3.
4. United Nations; Covention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, 1954 Convention, UN Treaty Series