Inmigration, Political Asylum,

and Development Cooperation

Ángeles Cano Linares

International Relations Degree
Lesson 1

• Introduction
• History and Legal Sources
• Human Rights Law and Inmigration Law
• Key Migration Terms
• Statelessness
Lesson 1: Introduct
• Some initial questions

–What is migration/Human mobility?

–Who is migrant?
–Is there a right to migrate?
Outline

• Human mobility
• Who is migrant?
• Main categories of migrants

• Global migration trends

• Conclusions and Recommendations

Human mobility …
… as old as human history

• Humans wandering in search of resources

(land, food, water, precious minerals),
conquest, or to escape from conflict or natural
disasters
Migration of anatomically modern humans

National Geographic Society

Flows S. XIX
Migrant Flows 1950’s
2000’s
Major Migration Flows (2000’s)
https://worldmigrationreport.iom.int/wmr-
2020-interactive/
 Global mobility

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4g930pm8Ms
Mobile populations

• Individuals who move in geographic space

– Different reasons
– Different distances
– Different administrative boundaries
– Different periods of time Place
B
Place
A
 Commuters
Tourists

Migrant workers
Move to another state

Border crossers Refugees

Who is a migrant?

Migrant

Minorities
Immigrant
Foreign born
Tourist
Mobile
populations
Who is a migrant?

• How is a migrant different

from other mobile
populations?
Who is a migrant?

• No universally accepted definition

• Countries and Organizations use their own criteria,

based and their own legislation and policies

• Definitions are not consistently used

• “Popular” terms

• No legal definition
 Migrant
UN Recommendations (1998 and 2007)

Moves to
• A person residence
changing in Place B
his/her place
of usual
residence

Residence
Sources: in Place A
-UN Recommendations on International Migration Statistics (1998)
- UN Expert Group Meeting on the use of censuses and surveys to measure international migration,
ESA/STAT/AC.132/1 (2007)
Change in residence …

• Temporary or permanent

• Authorized or unauthorized

• For different reasons or due to different causes

 Determinants of migration
• Economic/
better future/work

• Family reunification

• Forced

by Philip Craft, Staff

International visitors

▪ Person who travels to another country but

doesn't change country of usual residence
▪ e.g., tourists, business travelers, religious pilgrims,
for medical care

• Usually admitted for limited time (e.g.,

weeks)

• Not considered migrants

Internal Migrant
UN Recommendations (1998)

• A person changing
his/her usual residence China
but within the same
country
– Usually refers to
• Rural to urban migration
• Internally displaced
persons

• Internal Displacement
 Immigrant vs. Emigrant

• “Migrant”:
– It disregards the direction of movement

• From the perspective of the…

– Region/country of arrival the person is an
“immigrant”
– Region/country of departure the person is an
“emigrant”

UN Recommendations on International Migration Statistics (1998)

Organizations using a “change in
residence” to define migrants

❑ United Nations
❑ European Union

❑ International Organization for Migration

❑ World Bank
 But using different criteria …

• Country of birth ~ Foreign born

• Country of citizenship ~ Foreign citizen
• Minimum duration of residence (e.g., 12 m)
• Type of residence visas for foreigners
– Immigrants ~ Permanent residence
– Non-immigrant ~ temporary workers & visitors
• Ethnicity or religion (e.g., Ethnic-Russians)
• Others or a combination
Great diversity among migrants

• Country of birth
• Culture/Language
• Reasons for
migration
• Migration pattern
• Education
• Occupation
• Legal status
• Health
Main categories of
international migrants

❑ Migrant workers *
❑ Refugees*

❑ Asylum-seekers*

❑ Victims of trafficking*

❑ Unauthorized migrants*

❑ International students*

* Standard international definitions

 Refugees

• A person with a well-founded fear

of being persecuted for reasons of
race, religion, nationality, social
group or political opinion, …
• is outside his/her country of
nationality and …
• is unable or unwilling to return to
that country

(Source: UN Convention Related to the Status of

Refugees and the 1967 Protocol)
Human Trafficking

• Recruitment, transportation, or
harboring of persons, by use of
force , coercion, or fraud for
the purpose of exploitation

– Forced labor
– Sexual exploitation

• Can be international or
domestic (i.e., internal)

(Art. 3(a), UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children,
Supplementing the UN Convention Against Organized Crime, 2000).
Unauthorized migrants

• “A person who, owing to illegal entry or the expiry of

his/her visa, lacks legal status in a transit or host
country”
– A.K.A: undocumented, irregular, clandestine or illegal
migrant

Source: IOM Glossary of Migration, 2004

Global Overview: Numbers….
¡
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Africa
Asia
Europe
Latin America and the Caribbean
North America
Oceania

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Nombre del ponente o del grupo de investigación
Global Overview: Numbers….Facts
• Overall, the estimated number of international migrants has
increased over the past decades.

• 3.6 % global population.

• Migrants would constitute the 5th most populous State

• Migration is more widely distributed across most countries.

• While the proportion of international migrants globally has

increased, it is evident that the vast majority of people
continue to live in the country in which they were born.
Global Overview: Numbers….
 Facts

• Demographic and social effects of migration in host

country/region
– Increase population size
– Changes in gender and age distribution
– Increased population fertility
– Changes in race/ethnic distribution
– High proportion of workforce

• Migration is part of the solution for many economies, societies and families
around the world
• Despite the toxicity of some political narratives that rely on hate and division,
migration has long served many millions of people around the world well –
 Facts
• Migration is a global phenomena, driven by
economics, migration networks, natural disasters and
human conflicts

• Volume and complexity of migration is likely to

continue increasing
•Important to properly define and characterize the
numbers and needs of these diverse populations
Legal Sources

• International Regulation

• National Regulation

• Why?

Is there a right to migrate?

Legal Sources
• UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Preamble

• Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal

and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is
the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Legal Sources
• Key Concept: free movement of persons

• UDHR
– Article 13.

(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence

within the borders of each state.

(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and
to return to his country.
Legal Sources

• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,

GA Res 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 1966

• Article 12
1. Everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory,
have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence.
2. Everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own.
3. The above-mentioned rights shall not be subject to any restrictions except
those which are provided by law, are necessary to protect national security,
public order (ordre public), public health or morals or the rights and freedoms
of others, and are consistent with the other rights recognized in the present
Covenant.
4. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country.
Legal Sources

• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, GA Res 2200A (XXI)

of 16 December 1966

Article 13

An alien lawfully in the territory of a State Party to the present Covenant

may be expelled therefrom only in pursuance of a decision reached
in accordance with law and shall, except where compelling reasons of
national security otherwise require, be allowed to submit the reasons
against his expulsion and to have his case reviewed by, and be
represented for the purpose before, the competent authority or a person
or persons especially designated by the competent authority.
Legal Sources

• Human Rights versus States, sovereign State

• Persons v. Sovereignty
• International Law and National Law
Legal Sources
• Human Right International Bill:
– Universal Declaration of Human Rights
– International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
– International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

• Core of international human rights instruments

– International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

– Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women*
– Convention Against Torture
– Convention on the Rights of the Child
– International Convention on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and
Members of their Families
– International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Forced
Disappearances
– Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Legal Sources
• General instruments speak to the rights of «everyone», with
few and narrowly defined exceptions.

• More specific human rights treaties protect their subjects

according to particular characteristics: women, children,
migrant workers, persons with disabilities.

• Also relevant are instruments that protect refugees and

stateless persons, victims of trafficking, smuggled migrants …
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

Recognition of the inherent dignity

and of the equal and inalienable rights
of all
members of the human family
(Preamble)
All
human
beings
All human beings are born free and
equal in dignity and rights (Article 1)

Everyon Everyone is entitled to all the rights

e
and freedoms set forth in this
Declaration, without
distinction of any kind (Article 2)
Legal Sources
Non-discrimination
• Discrimination constitutes any distinction, exclusion,
restriction or preference or other differential treatment that is
directly or indirectly based on the prohibited grounds of
discrimination and which has the intention or effect of
nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise,
on an equal footing, of human rights.
• sex, race, colour, language, religion or conviction, political or
other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, nationality, age,
economic position, property, marital status, birth or other
status
Legal Sources
Non-discrimination

• The international bill of human rights allows only a few limited

exceptions to the principle of equality between national and
non-nationals, and between different groups of non-nationals
Legal Sources

• Powers of the State.

• Internationally recognized rights of all human beings:
there is NO vacuum regulatory
• State obligations to non-nationals
• Human rights are inalienable – but not all are absolute
• Derogation possible in times of emergency (Art 4. ICCPR)
• Human rights instruments make some distinctions between
national and non-nationals, regular and irregular migrants

• Some differences Foreign- National

– Right: leave the State.
– No right to enter another state
International Migration Law
• International migration law (IML), which is the international
legal framework governing migration
• It is not covered by any one legal instrument or norm.

• IML is an umbrella term covering a variety of principles and

rules that together regulate the international obligations of
States with regard to migrants
• Such broad range of principles and rules belong to numerous
branches of international law such as human rights law,
humanitarian law, labour law, refugee law, consular law and
maritime law.
• Nevertheless….
International Migration Law
The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration
(A/RES/73/195)
• It is the first intergovernmental “agreement”, prepared under
the auspices of the United Nations, to cover all dimensions of
international migration in a holistic and comprehensive
manner.
• It was adopted at an intergovernmental conference on
migration in Marrakesh, Morocco on 10 December 2018
• It is an important framework for improved migration
governance that puts migrants and their human rights at the
centre and that provides a significant opportunity to
strengthen human rights protection for all migrants, regardless
of status.
•
• .
International Migration Law
The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration
(A/RES/73/195)

• “The Global Compact is based on international human rights

law and upholds the principles of non-regression and non-
discrimination. By implementing the Global Compact, we
ensure effective respect for and protection and fulfilment of
the human rights of all migrants, regardless of their migration
status, across all stages of the migration cycle. We also
reaffirm the commitment to eliminate all forms of
discrimination, including racism, xenophobia and intolerance,
against migrants and their families;”

• .
Human Rights Approach
• The human rights based approach:

– Constitutes a framework of action, as well as a set of tools for

migration policy-makers.
– Is based on the international framework of human rights law as
provided in the core human rights instruments
– Upholds the principle of non-discrimination
– Establishes accountability between duty-bearers and rights-holders
– Focuses on vulnerability, marginalisation and exclusion
– Emphasises participation and empowerment
Statelessness
Statelessness

➢ Stateless Person: a person who is not considered as a

national by any state under the operation of its law

➢ Stateless persons are non-nationals everywhere, which has

consequences for their enjoyment of rights

➢ Number affected worldwide: approx. 10 million

➢ No region unaffected; large groups to individual cases

➢ Article 15 UDHR: Everyone has the right to a nationality

Statelessness

➢ To be stateless is to be without nationality or citizenship.

➢ There is no legal bond of nationality between the state and

the individual.
➢ Stateless people face numerous difficulties in their daily lives:
they can lack access to health care, education, property rights
and the ability to move freely. They are also vulnerable to
arbitrary treatment and crimes like trafficking. Their
marginalization can create tensions in society and lead to
instability at an international level, including, in extreme
cases, conflict and displacement
Statelessness

➢ Nationality”: the legal bond between a person and

a state

➢ Nationality is a form of membership that results in

rights and duties, for instance:
➢ Right to enter and reside in the state; political rights
➢ Duty to perform military service

➢ Nationality vs. citizenship

Statelessness

• Stateless person - A person who is not considered

as a national by any State under the operation of its
law" (Art. 1, UN Convention relating to the Status of Stateless
Persons, 1954).
• Recognised as customary international law
• Also referred to as “de jure” statelessness
• As such, a stateless person lacks those rights attributable to
national diplomatic protection of a State, no inherent right of
sojourn in the State of residence and no right of return in case
he or she would want to.
Statelessness
➢ de facto statelessness
– Some persons formally possess a nationality but are in a similar situation as stateless
persons.
– There is no universally accepted definition of this term.
– Traditionally the term was used to describe a person who, outside his/her country of
nationality, is denied diplomatic and consular protection or assistance of his/her country.
This situation occurs when the country of nationality refuses to allow a person to return
home, even though that country still formally recognizes the individual as a national.
– In such a situation, the person may also fall under the refugee definition.

➢ “Stateless Refugee”: a person who is not considered as a national by any state

under the operation of its law and meets the definition of a refugee in article 1 of the 1951
Refugee Convention.
Falls under UNHCR’s refugee mandate
Enjoys protection of the 1951 Refugee Convention
When ceasing to be a refugee, may still be stateless and need assistance to acquire a nationality
Statelessness
• Causes of Statelessness:

✓ States are responsible for regulating nationality matters and

deciding who is a national and who is not.

✓ They base their decisions on a person's connection with the

country through birth, ancestry or residence.

✓ All stateless people have such links with at least one country,
but do not possess a nationality due to legal reasons or
discrimination.
Statelessness
Causes of Statelessness:
• At independence, new states have to define their body of citizens.

✓ In the past, nationality criteria were often based on ethnicity, which led to large populations being
excluded.
✓ Subsequent legislation often based nationality on descent, thus forcing parents to pass on
statelessness like a genetic disease.
✓ In some countries, similar policies of exclusion were introduced well after independence.
✓ In practice, equality in legislation is not a guarantee for full nationality rights where authorities refuse
to issue nationality documentation to citizens based on ethnicity, language or religion.

• In many states, women do not have the same nationality rights as men.

✓ When women cannot pass on their nationality, their children are at a heightened risk of statelessness
if they cannot legally acquire the father's nationality, or if he is unable or unwilling seek nationality for
these offspring.
✓ Furthermore, in some countries a woman cannot pass on her nationality to her foreign husband.
Statelessness
Causes of Statelessness:
✓ Another problem is that nationality laws drafted when states are created, or when
territory is transferred (state succession), are often limited in scope and use
deadlines. As a result, many people fall through the cracks and become stateless.

✓ Incompatibilities in the application of two or more nationality laws can also lead to
statelessness. Meanwhile, legislation in some countries allows loss or deprivation
of nationality even where this would render a person stateless. Making the
renunciation of a previous nationality a precondition for acquiring a new one also
creates risks of statelessness.

✓ For many people, inability to establish nationality has the same consequences as
not having a nationality at all. Birth certificates are a key element for proof of
nationality as they establish both descent and place of birth - as millions of births
every year go unregistered, the risk of statelessness increases.
Statelessness

• Statelessness as an International Concern

• Why?
Statelessness

• Statelessness as an International Concern

➢ Detrimental impact on individual lives and family well-being

➢ Severe knock-on effect on community stability and international

relations

• What are the international community’s main aims?

Statelessness

• Statelessness as an International Concern

➢ Detrimental impact on individual lives and family well-being

➢ Severe knock-on effect on community stability and international

relations

• What are the international community’s main aims?

➢ To avoid statelessness

➢ To protect stateless people

Statelessness
• How can statelessness be avoided?

– 1. Understand the causes of statelessness

– 2. Analyse nationality law and practice

– 3. Apply relevant international standards

Statelessness
• How can statelessness be avoided?
– 1. Understand the causes of statelessness

➢ Gaps in nationality laws / conflicts of nationality laws

➢ Arbitrary deprivation of nationality
➢ Processes relating to state succession

Common underlying factor: discrimination

Common contributing factors: migration, lack of birth registration,

administrative obstacles
Statelessness
• How can statelessness be avoided?
– 2. Analyse nationality law and practice

How is nationality acquired?

▪ Family links: parents, spouse

▪ Territorial links: place of birth, residence

What gaps might there be in the law?

▪ No safeguards to prevent statelessness at birth

▪ Loss / renunciation of only nationality is permitted
▪ Gender or racial discrimination
▪ Poor / no procedural guarantees
Statelessness
• How can statelessness be avoided?
3. Apply relevant international standards

It is the right of each state to determine who its nationals are

But….

Are states free to regulate nationality?

Statelessness
• How can statelessness be avoided?
3. Apply relevant international standards

Are states free to regulate nationality?

➢ No, international law now sets some limits on the

freedom of states to regular access to nationality

What limits are set by international law?

➢ General principles of law, e.g. non-discrimination
➢ Human Rights Law
➢ 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness
Statelessness

➢ Everyone has the right to a nationality.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (article 15.1)

15.2 No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor

denied the right to change his nationality.

States shall introduce safeguards to prevent statelessness by

granting their nationality to persons who would otherwise be
stateless and are either born in their territory or are born
abroad to one of their nationals. States shall also prevent
statelessness upon loss or deprivation of nationality.
Spain
Nationality for those of Spanish origin
Those of Spanish origin are:
– Those born to a Spanish father or mother
– Those born in Spain who are the children of non-Spanish parents if at least
one of their parents were born in Spain (with the exception of children of
diplomats).
– Those born in Spain to non-Spanish parents, if both have no nationality (status
of stateless persons) or if the legislation of neither grants nationality to the
child. In this case a form can be submitted at the local Civil Registry of the
place of residence to declare Spanish nationality on the basis of mere
assumption.
– Children born in Spain whose parents' identity is unknown. Children whose first
known place of stay is Spanish territory are assumed to have been born in
Spain.
– All children under 18 years of age adopted by a Spanish national are of
Spanish origin. If the adoptee is aged over 18, they may opt for Spanish
nationality of origin within two years following the legalisation of the adoption.
•
Spain
Nationality by possession of status
• All persons who have possessed or used Spanish nationality
for ten years, on a continued basis and in good faith
(without being aware of the real situation, i.e. that they were
not in fact Spanish), on the basis of a record held by the Civil
Registry. Spanish nationality is not lost even where the record
held by the Civil Registry is annulled. The interested party
must have maintained an active attitude in such possession
and use of Spanish nationality, meaning that they must have
behaved in a manner considering themselves to be Spanish,
in both the exercise of their rights and in fulfilling their
obligations to the bodies of the Spanish state.

Nombre del ponente o del grupo de investigación

Spain
Nationality by option
– The option is a benefit in our legislation extended to foreign nationals subject to
certain conditions, for them to acquire Spanish nationality.
– The following persons shall have the right to acquire Spanish nationality by this
method:
• Those persons who are or have been subject to the parental authority of a Spanish
national. This option expires when the interested party reaches 20 years of age,
except where their relevant legislation states that the interested party does not reach
legal age at the age of 18, in which case the term shall be for the two years following
their reaching legal age.
• Those persons whose father or mother was Spanish or born in Spain.
• Those persons whose determination of parentage or birth in Spain is only made
after reaching the age of eighteen. In this case, the term for opting for nationality is
the two years from the determination of parentage or birth.
• Those persons whose adoption by Spanish nationals occurs after reaching eighteen
years of age. In this case the right to opt for Spanish nationality is valid for a term of
two years after the legalisation of the adoption.
Spain
Nationality by residence
• One year:
– Persons born in Spanish territory.
– Persons who have not exercised their right to Spanish nationality by option.
– Persons who have been legally subject to the guardianship (in the care of a guardian) or
foster care (foster care allowing for the reduction of the legal residency period to one
year is that in which there is a resolution issued by the public body responsible for the
protection of minors in the relevant territory or judicially recognized foster care) of a
Spanish citizen or institution for two consecutive years, including where they remain in
this situation at the time of application.
– Persons who, at the time of the application, have been married for one year to a Spanish
national and are not legally separated and have not had a common-law separation.
– The widower or widow of a Spanish national, if, at the time of the death of the spouse,
they were not separated in fact or legally.
– Those born outside Spain to a Spanish father or mother (also born outside Spain),
grandfather or grandmother, provided that all were originally Spanish.
Spain
Nationality by naturalization

• This method of acquiring nationality is ex gratia and is not

subject to the general rules of administrative procedure. It
shall be granted, or not, at the discretion of the Government
by Royal Decree, after an evaluation of the exceptional
circumstances.
Statelessness
• key legal instruments in the protection of stateless
people around the world and in the prevention and
reduction of statelessness
• UN in 1954 adopted the Convention Relating to the
Status of Stateless Persons.

• Prevent statelessness from occurring, to resolve

those cases that do occur and to protect the rights of
stateless persons. The 1961 Convention on the
Reduction of Statelessness
Statelessness
• The conventions attracted relatively few ratifications
or accessions for decades.

• 2011, to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1961

Convention, UNHCR launched a major campaign to
promote accession to the two statelessness treaties.

• This increased the number of state parties to the

1954 Convention from 65 to 80 and the number of
state parties to the 1961 Convention from 37 to 55.
Statelessness
• Convention Relating to • The 1961 Convention
the Status of Stateless on the Reduction of
Persons Statelessness
– entry into force 6 june
1960 – Entry into force 13
– Parties 98 (2024). December 1975
– Spain, accession 12 May – Parties 80 (2024)
1997 – 21 articles
– 40 articles
• 2018: Chile, Haiti
• Spain 25 Sep 2018 a,
Chile, Haití
• 2016 Sierra Leone, Mali, Guinea-
Bissau
Statelessness
Statelessness
• Objectives and key provisions of the 1954 Convention
relating to the Status of Stateless Persons

– primary international instrument adopted to date, to regulate and

improve the legal status of stateless persons.

– sets the legal framework for the standard treatment of stateless

persons.

– It was adopted to cover, inter alia, those stateless persons who are not
refugees and who are not, therefore, covered by the 1951 Convention
relating to the Status of Refugees or its Protocol.
Statelessness
• Objectives and key provisions of the 1954 Convention
relating to the Status of Stateless Persons

– Contains provisions regarding stateless persons' rights and obligations

pertaining to their legal status in the country of residence.

– In ensuring that such basic rights and needs are met, the Convention
provides the individual with stability and improves the quality of life of
the stateless person.

– This, in turn, can prove to be of advantage to the State in which

stateless persons live, since such persons can then contribute to
society, enhancing national solidarity and stability.
Statelessness
• Key provisions 1954 Convention relating to the Status of
Stateless Persons

– Article 1 definition : "For the purpose of this Convention, the term

'stateless person' means a person who is not considered as a national
by any State under the operation of its law".

– Article 3, non-discrimination: "The contracting States shall apply the

provisions of this Convention to stateless persons without
discrimination as to race, religion or country of origin".

• Article 4: non least favourable treatment than nationals with respect to

freedom to practise their religion and freedom as regards the religious
education of their children.
Statelessness
• Key provisions 1954 Convention relating to the Status of
Stateless Persons

– General obligations

– Every stateless person has duties to the country in which he finds

himself, which require in particular that he conform to its laws and
regulations as well as to measures taken for the maintenance of public
order. Art.3
Statelessness
• Key provisions 1954 Convention relating to the Status of
Stateless Persons

• Chapter II: Juridical Status Arts. 12-16

– personal status: The personal status of a stateless person shall be
governed by the law of the country of his domicile or, if he has no
domicile, by the law of the country of his residence

– States shall accord to stateless persons lawfully staying in their

territory treatment as favourable as possible, and in any event, not less
favourable than that accorded to aliens generally in the same
circumstances.
– Art. 16 access to court
Statelessness
• Key provisions 1954 Convention relating to the Status of
Stateless Persons
• Chapter III: Gainful Employment 17-19

• Limited to stateless persons lawfully staying in their territory

• treatment as favourable as possible and, in any event, not
less favourable than that accorded to aliens generally in the
same circumstances, as regards the right to engage in wage-
earning employment.
Statelessness
• Key provisions 1954 Convention relating to the Status of
Stateless Persons

• Article 22 public education

– 1. The Contracting States shall accord to stateless persons the same
treatment as is accorded to nationals with respect to elementary
education.
– Other education: not less favourable than that accorded to aliens
generally in the same circumstances,
Statelessness
• Key provisions 1954 Convention relating to the Status of
Stateless Persons

Freedom of movement: States shall accord to stateless persons

lawfully in its territory the right to choose their place of residence
and to move freely within its territory, subject to any regulations
applicable to aliens generally in the same circumstanes
Article 27: identity papers
The Contracting States shall issue identity papers to any stateless person
in their territory who does not possess a valid travel document.
Statelessness
• Key provisions 1954 Convention relating to the Status of
Stateless Persons
– In Article 28 the issue of travel documents for stateless persons is
addressed.
• An individual recognized as a stateless person under the terms of the
Convention should be issued an identity and travel document by the
Contracting State.

– Article 31 states that stateless persons are not to be expelled save on

grounds of national security or public order.
• Expulsions are, in principle, subject to due process of law.
• The Final Act of the Convention indicates that non-refoulement in relation
to danger of persecution is a generally accepted principle.
• Refers to stateless persons lawfully in their territory
Statelessness
• Key provisions 1954 Convention relating to the Status of
Stateless Persons
– Article 32 of the Convention regulates the issue of naturalization.

• The Contracting State shall as far as possible facilitate the assimilation and naturalization of
stateless persons. They shall in particular make every effort to expedite naturalization
proceedings and to reduce as far as possible the charges and costs of such proceedings.

No Reservations allowed to articles 1, 3, 4, 16 (1) and 33 to 42

inclusive (final clauses)
Statelessness
• Other provisions 1954 Convention relating to the Status
of Stateless Persons

• Continuity of residence
– Where a stateless person has been forcibly displaced during the
Second World War and removed to the territory of a Contracting State,
and is resident there, the period of such enforced sojourn shall be
considered to have been lawful residence within that territory.

– The Final Act of the Convention recommends that each Contracting State, when it
recognizes as valid the reasons for which a person has renounced the protection of the
State of which he is a national, consider sympathetically the possibility of according to
the person the treatment which the convention accords to stateless persons.
• This recommendation was included on behalf of de facto stateless persons who, technically, still
held a nationality but did not receive any of the benefits generally associated with nationality,
such as national protection
Statelessness
• The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness
• Objectives
– Specifically aimed at avoiding statelessness

– The Convention provides for acquisition of nationality for those who

would otherwise be stateless and who have an appropriate link with the
State through factors of birth or descent. The issues of retention of
nationality once acquired and transfer of territory are also addressed.

– Not an international law on nationality, but a

common framework for avoiding statelessness
Statelessness
• The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness
• Key provisions
– Articles 1-4 outline principles for the granting of nationality at birth to
avoid future cases of statelessness.

– Articles 5-7 : regulation on the loss or renunciation of nationality and

stipulate that loss/renunciation should be conditional upon the prior
possession or assurance of acquiring another nationality.

– Articles 5 and 6 principle of family unity in the light of avoidance of

statelessness.

– In particular, Article 6 contains a provision of non-discrimination against

family members as to the loss of nationality.
Statelessness
• The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness
• Key provisions
– Articles 8-9: The issue of deprivation of nationality is dealt
• The basic principle is that no deprivation should take place if it will
result in statelessness.

• Article 9 states that "A Contracting State may not deprive any
person or group of persons of their nationality on racial, ethnic,
religious or political grounds."

• Loss or deprivation of nationality may take place only in

accordance with law and accompanied by full procedural
guarantees, such as the right to a fair hearing by a court or other
independent body.
Statelessness
• The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness
• Key provisions
– Article 10: transfer of territory

– It follows from this provision that treaties shall ensure that

statelessness does not occur as a result of transfer of territory.
– Where no treaty is signed, the State shall confer its nationality on those
who would otherwise become stateless as a result of the transfer or
acquisition of territory.
Statelessness
• The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness
• Key provisions
– Article 11 of the Convention was elaborated for the establishment,
within the framework of the United Nations, of a body to which a
person claiming the benefit of the Convention may apply for the
examination of his/her claim and for the assistance in presenting it to
the appropriate authority. The United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees has been requested, by the United Nations General
Assembly, to fulfil this function.

– The Final Act of the Convention delineates definitions of words used in

the Convention, as well as duties of the Contracting States. It
recommends that persons who are stateless de facto should as far as
possible be treated as stateless de jure to enable them to acquire an
effective nationality.
Statelessness
UNHCR

Global Action Plan to End Statelessness 2014-24

“Statelessness is a profound violation of an individual’s human

rights. It would be deeply unethical to perpetuate the pain it
causes when solutions are so clearly within reach.
This Global Action Plan sets out a strategy to put a definitive end
to this human suffering within 10 years. I count on your support
to help make this ambitious goal a reality.” António Guterres,
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Statelessness
Global Action Plan to End Statelessness 2014-24
• Action 1: RESOLVE EXISTING MAJOR SITUATIONS OF STATELESSNESS
Goal: All major non-refugee statelessness situations resolved.

• Action 2: ENSURE THAT NO CHILD IS BORN STATELESS

Goal: No reported cases of childhood statelessness.
Goal: All States have a provision in their nationality laws to grant nationality to stateless children
born in their territory.
Goal: All States have a provision in their nationality laws to grant nationality to children of
unknown origin found in their territory (foundlings).
Goal: All States have a safeguard in their nationality laws to grant nationality to children born to
nationals abroad and who are unable to acquire another nationality.

• Action 3: REMOVE GENDER DISCRIMINATION FROM NATIONALITY LAWS

Goal: All States have nationality laws which treat women and men equally with regard to
conferral of nationality to their children and with regard to the acquisition, change and retention of
nationality.
Statelessness
Global Action Plan to End Statelessness 2014-24
• Action 4: PREVENT DENIAL , LOSS OR DEPRIVATION OF NATIONALITY ON
DISCRIMINATORY GROUNDS
Goal: No States have nationality laws which permit denial, loss or deprivation of nationality on
discriminatory grounds.

• Action 5: PREVENT STATELESSNESS IN CASES OF STATE SUCCESSION

Goal: No cases of statelessness due to future situations of State succession.

• Action 6: GRANT PROTECTION STATUS TO STATELESS MIGRANTS AND FACILITATE

THEIR NATURALIZATION
Goal: 70 States identify stateless migrants through determination procedures which lead to a
legal status that permits residence and guarantees the enjoyment of basic human rights, and
facilitate naturalization.

• Action 7: ENSURE BIRTH REGISTRATION FOR THE PREVENTION OF STATELESSNESS

Goal: No reported cases of statelessness due to a lack of birth registration.
Statelessness
Global Action Plan to End Statelessness 2014-24
• Action 8: ISSUE NATIONALITY DOCUMENTATION TO THOSE WITH ENTITLEMENT TO
IT
Goal: No States have populations which are entitled to nationality under law but which cannot
acquire documentary proof of nationality.

• Action 9: ACCEDE TO THE UN STATELESSNESS CONVENTIONS

Goal: 140 States are party to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons.
Goal: 130 States are party to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

• Action 10: IMPROVE QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DATA ON STATELESS

POPULATIONS
Goal: Quantitative data on stateless populations is publicly available for 150 States. n Goal:
Qualitative analysis on stateless populations is publicly available for at least 120 States.
A current Case
• The Rohingya are a stateless, mostly Muslim minority who
have traditionally lived in Myanmar.
• Hundreds of thousands were forced to flee their homes in
August 2017 when violence broke out in Myanmar’s Rakhine
State, including the burning of entire Rohingya villages.
• The United Nations has described the Rohingya “as the most
persecuted minority in the world.”
• 80% of Rohingya refugees reaching Bangladesh are women
and children, including newborns.
• The Kutupalong refugee settlement is the largest in the world,
and home to some 600,000 Rohingya refugees.