Stateless person

A stateless person is someone with no state or nationality, usually because the state that gave their previous nationality has ceased to exist and there is no successor state.

Related Topics:
State - Nationality

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While more common before the 20th century, when states were somewhat more fragile entities, on September 20, 1954 the United Nations adopted the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons: an active policy to prevent people becoming or remaining stateless. Despite this, there are still Kashmiri, Kurdish and Palestinian refugees who are claiming asylum due to statelessness, for example.

Related Topics:
20th century - September 20 - 1954 - United Nations - Kashmiri - Kurdish - Palestinian

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A blog post at the Free Rohingya Campaign web site stated:

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:Nine million people live in countries where they are not considered to be nationals. This status denies many of them access to legal protection or their rights to health care and education. Furthermore, just a single officer at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) carries out the UN?s mandate to protect the world?s stateless people.

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A slightly comic/tragic rendition of this condition was portrayed in the motion picture The Terminal, where a person was trapped living inside an airport because he couldn't return home due to his citizenship status. This story was based in part on the real-life story of Merhan Karimi Nasseri, who spent several years in the Charles de Gaulle Airport due to conflicts with French law and the fact he was not welcome in his country of origin.

Related Topics:
The Terminal - Merhan Karimi Nasseri - Charles de Gaulle Airport

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