I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 72 

To increase global stability and security for the United States and the international community by reducing the number of individuals who are 

de jure or de facto stateless and at risk of being trafficked. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2009 

Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To increase global stability and security for the United States 

and the international community by reducing the number 

of individuals who are de jure or de facto stateless and 

at risk of being trafficked. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. PURPOSE. 

4 It is the purpose of this Act to increase global sta5 bility and security for the United States and the inter6 national community and decrease trafficking and discrimi7 nation by reducing the number of individuals who are de 

8 jure or de facto stateless and as a consequence are unable 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
2 

•HR 72 IH

1 to avail themselves of their right to a nationality and its 

2 concomitant rights and obligations and are excluded from 

3 full participation in civil society. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of 

7 Human Rights offers everyone the right to a nation8 ality. 

9 (2) The right to a nationality is a foundation of 

10 human rights, and a deterrent to displacement and 

11 disaffection. The State is the primary vehicle 

12 through which individuals are guaranteed their in13 alienable rights and are made subject to the rule of 

14 law. Regional stability and security are undermined 

15 when individuals cannot avail themselves of their 

16 right to a nationality and its concomitant rights and 

17 obligations and are excluded from full participation 

18 in civil society. 

19 (3) In the aftermath of World War II, millions 

20 of people were displaced and arbitrarily deprived of 

21 their nationalities and their protection of citizenship. 

22 In the 21st century, the adverse effects of de jure 

23 or de facto statelessness still impact at least an esti24 mated 11,000,000 million people worldwide and reVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:03 Jan 09, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H72.IH H72

wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
3 

•HR 72 IH

1 quire a strong commitment by the international com2 munity to address this serious issue. 

3 (4) The lack of citizenship or the inability to 

4 document one’s ties to a State often results in severe 

5 hardships and discrimination, particularly the inabil6 ity to pursue lawful employment and a sustainable 

7 livelihood, own property, or enjoy legally protected 

8 family bonds and increases the likelihood that such 

9 persons may fall victim to traffickers and organized 

10 criminal groups who prey on the vulnerability of un11 protected de jure or de facto stateless persons. The 

12 Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report 

13 for 2008 noted that stateless victims of trafficking 

14 face difficulties in repatriating and in accessing crit15 ical medical, social, or legal services and called on 

16 the international community to give greater atten17 tion to birth registration and the provision of more 

18 effective and accessible avenues for the acquisition of 

19 legal residency or citizenship. 

20 (5) Regional security is enhanced when States 

21 effectively respect the right of nationality, as this 

22 right ensures the availability of peaceful means of 

23 recourse to address grievances and claims, including 

24 through national, regional, or international court 

25 systems. 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
4 

•HR 72 IH

1 (6) Countries have the sovereign right to deter2 mine procedures and conditions for acquisition and 

3 termination of citizenship, and exercise of this right 

4 should be linked to the responsibility of preventing 

5 de jure and de facto statelessness and the respect 

6 for other universal principles of human rights, in 

7 particular the universal antidiscrimination norm. 

8 (7) The 1954 Convention Relating to the Sta9 tus of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on 

10 the Reduction of Statelessness were adopted to regu11 late the legal status and treatment of individuals 

12 who are de jure or de facto stateless and to prevent 

13 de jure and de facto statelessness. 

14 (8) At least an estimated 11,000,000 individ15 uals worldwide currently are unable to avail them16 selves of any effective nationality or cannot fully ac17 cess their rights as citizens and obtain protection 

18 from a country. 

19 (9) De jure or de facto statelessness can result 

20 from factors including political change, targeted per21 secution or discrimination, transfers of territory, 

22 adoption of restrictive laws relating to marriage, 

23 place or registration of birth, or incongruous na24 tional citizenship laws. 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
5 

•HR 72 IH

1 (10) Individuals who are de jure or de facto 

2 stateless are unable to avail themselves of the rights 

3 of free people everywhere to an effective nationality, 

4 to the rights to legal residence, to travel, to work in 

5 the formal economy or professions, to attend school, 

6 to access basic health services, to purchase or own 

7 property, to vote, or to hold elected office, and to 

8 enjoy the protection and security of a country. 

9 (11) Article 24 of the International Covenant 

10 on Civil and Political Rights provides that every 

11 child shall be registered at birth and that every child 

12 has the right to acquire a nationality. 

13 (12) UNICEF leads the efforts with govern14 ments, particularly in the developing world, to pro15 mote universal, accessible registration and docu16 mentation of all births but is hard pressed to find 

17 the needed human and financial resources necessary 

18 to encourage widespread implementation of needed 

19 reforms. 

20 (13) Article 9(2) of the Convention on the 

21 Elimination of Discrimination Against Women 

22 grants women equal rights with men with respect to 

23 transmitting the nationality of their children. 

24 (14) The Office of the United Nations High 

25 Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
6 

•HR 72 IH

1 given the mandate by the international community 

2 to work to prevent de jure and de facto statelessness 

3 and to identify, protect, and find remedies for indi4 viduals now considered de jure or de facto stateless. 

5 (15) The UNHCR lacks sufficient resources to 

6 undertake this important work in a systematic and 

7 comprehensive manner to identify, protect, and find 

8 timely solutions for the millions of individuals who 

9 are de jure or de facto stateless. 

10 SEC. 3. THE UNITED NATIONS. 

11 (a) POLICY.—It shall be the policy of the United 

12 States that the President and the Permanent Representa13 tive of the United States to the United Nations work with 

14 the international community to increase political and fi15 nancial support for the work of the UNHCR to prevent 

16 and resolve problems related to de jure and de facto state17 lessness, and to promote the rights of the de jure or de 

18 facto stateless, by taking these and other actions: 

19 (1) Increasing the attention of the United Na20 tions and the UNHCR to de jure and de facto state21 lessness and increasing its capacity to reduce state22 lessness around the world by coordinating the 

23 mainstreaming of de jure and de facto statelessness 

24 into all of the United Nations human rights work, 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
7 

•HR 72 IH

1 in cooperation with all relevant United Nations 

2 agencies. 

3 (2) Urging United Nations country teams in 

4 countries with significant de jure or de facto state5 less populations to devote increasing attention and 

6 resources to undertake coordinated efforts by all 

7 United Nations offices, funds, and programs to 

8 bring about the full registration and documentation 

9 of all persons resident in the territory of each coun10 try, either as citizens or as individuals in need of 

11 international protection. 

12 (3) Urging the creation of an Inter-Agency 

13 Task Force on Statelessness with representation 

14 from UNHCR, UNICEF and other relevant United 

15 Nations agencies that will coordinate to increase 

16 agency awareness and information exchange on de 

17 jure and de facto statelessness to ensure a consistent 

18 and comprehensive approach to the identification of 

19 stateless groups and individuals and resolution of 

20 their status. 

21 (4) Urging that nationality and de jure and de 

22 facto statelessness issues are addressed in all coun23 try reviews conducted by United Nations treaty bod24 ies and relevant special mechanisms engaged in 

25 country visits, and pursuing creation of a standing 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
8 

•HR 72 IH

1 mechanism within the United Nations to com2 plement the work of UNHCR in addressing issues of 

3 de jure and de facto statelessness that give rise to 

4 urgent human rights or security concerns. 

5 (5) Urging the UNHCHR to include nationality 

6 and statelessness in all country-specific and thematic 

7 monitoring, reporting, training, and protection ac8 tivities, and across special procedures, and to des9 ignate at least one human rights officer to monitor, 

10 report, and coordinate the office’s advocacy on na11 tionality and de jure and de facto statelessness. 

12 (6) Urging the United Nations to ensure that 

13 its work on trafficking includes measures to restore 

14 secure citizenship to trafficked women and girls, and 

15 to work with Member States to guarantee that na16 tional legislation gives women full and equal rights 

17 regarding citizenship. 

18 (7) Urging the United Nations to increase its 

19 capacity to respond to the needs of de jure or de 

20 facto stateless individuals, particularly children, and 

21 to strengthen and expand the United Nations pro22 tection and assistance activities, particularly in field 

23 operations, to better respond to the wide range of 

24 protection and assistance needs of de jure or de 

25 facto stateless individuals. 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
9 

•HR 72 IH

1 (8) Urging the UNICEF to increase its efforts 

2 to encourage all Member States of the United Na3 tions to permit full and easy access to birth registra4 tion for all children born in their territories, particu5 larly in Member States in which there are displaced 

6 populations, and work with the UNHCR and Mem7 ber States to ensure the issuance of birth certificates 

8 to all children born to refugees and displaced per9 sons. 

10 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi11 tion to regular United States contributions to the 

12 UNHCR, there is authorized to be appropriated not less 

13 than $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2010 and each subsequent 

14 fiscal year to be made available to improve the UNHCR’s 

15 assistance to de jure or de facto stateless individuals. Such 

16 funds may be used to— 

17 (1) protect the rights, meet emergency humani18 tarian needs, and provide assistance to de jure or de 

19 facto stateless groups and individuals; 

20 (2) provide additional resources to— 

21 (A) increase the number of protection offi22 cers; 

23 (B) increase the number of professional 

24 staff in the statelessness unit; and 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
10 

•HR 72 IH

1 (C) train protection officers and United 

2 Nations country teams in the field to identify, 

3 reduce, protect, and prevent de jure and de 

4 facto statelessness; 

5 (3) improve identification of de jure or de facto 

6 stateless groups and individuals by carrying out a 

7 comprehensive annual study of the scope of de jure 

8 and de facto statelessness worldwide, including 

9 causes of de jure and de facto statelessness and dis10 semination of best practices for remedying de jure 

11 and de facto statelessness; and 

12 (4) increase the United Nations educational and 

13 technical assistance programs to prevent de jure and 

14 de facto statelessness, including outreach to Member 

15 States and their legislatures, with particular empha16 sis on those countries determined to have protracted 

17 de jure or de facto statelessness situations. 

18 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS TO THE

19 UNICEF.—In addition to regular United States contribu20 tions to the UNICEF, there is authorized to be appro21 priated $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2010 and each subse22 quent fiscal year be made available to augment to the 

23 UNICEF’s ability to aid countries with significant de jure 

24 or de facto stateless populations to bring about the full 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
11 

•HR 72 IH

1 registration of all children born to de jure or de facto 

2 stateless parents. 

3 SEC. 4. THE UNITED STATES. 

4 (a) FOREIGN POLICY.—Given the importance of ob5 taining and preserving nationality and the protection of 

6 a government, and of preventing the exploitation or traf7 ficking of de jure or de facto stateless groups or individ8 uals, the President shall make the prevention and reduc9 tion of de jure or de facto statelessness an important goal 

10 of United States foreign policy and human rights efforts. 

11 Such efforts shall include— 

12 (1) calling upon host countries to protect and 

13 assume responsibility for de jure or de facto state14 less groups or individuals; 

15 (2) working with countries of origin to facilitate 

16 the resolution of problems faced by de jure or de 

17 facto stateless groups or individuals; 

18 (3) working with countries of origin and host 

19 countries to facilitate the resolution of disputes and 

20 conflicts that cause or result in the creation of de 

21 jure or de facto statelessness; 

22 (4) encouraging host countries to afford de jure 

23 or de facto stateless groups or individuals the full 

24 protection of the 1954 Convention Relating to the 

25 Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 ConvenVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:03 Jan 09, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H72.IH H72

wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
12 

•HR 72 IH

1 tion on the Reduction of Statelessness and all rel2 evant international conventions; 

3 (5) directing the Secretary of State to provide 

4 assistance to countries to prevent and resolve situa5 tions of de jure or de facto statelessness and to pre6 vent the trafficking or exploitation of de jure or de 

7 facto stateless individuals; 

8 (6) directing the Office of Trafficking in Per9 sons of the Department of State to continue to docu10 ment and analyze the effects of statelessness on traf11 ficking in persons, both as a cause of trafficking and 

12 as an obstacle to reaching and assisting trafficked 

13 persons; and 

14 (7) encouraging and facilitating the work of 

15 nongovernmental organizations in the United States 

16 and abroad that provide legal and humanitarian sup17 port to de jure or de facto stateless groups or indi18 viduals, to increase the access of de jure or de facto 

19 stateless groups or individuals to such organizations, 

20 and to encourage other governments to provide simi21 lar support and access. 

22 (b) DOMESTIC POLICY.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Given the importance of pre24 venting new instances of de jure or de facto state25 lessness and the trafficking of de jure or de facto 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
13 

•HR 72 IH

1 stateless individuals, and of protecting the human 

2 rights of de jure or de facto stateless individuals, the 

3 President shall submit to the Committee on Foreign 

4 Affairs and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

5 House of Representatives and the Committee on 

6 Foreign Relations and the Committee on the Judici7 ary of the Senate a report that includes the fol8 lowing: 

9 (A) A detailed explanation of what 

10 changes, if any, to United States law would 

11 have to occur should the United States wish to 

12 comply with the terms of the 1954 Convention 

13 Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons or 

14 the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of State15 lessness. 

16 (B) Information on de jure or de facto 

17 stateless individuals in the United States, or 

18 under the jurisdiction of the United States, and 

19 their conditions. Such information should, with 

20 respect to such individuals, include information 

21 relating to their places of birth, causes of de 

22 jure or de facto statelessness, nationalities at 

23 birth, descriptions of family conditions, and de24 scriptions of available assistance. 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
14 

•HR 72 IH

1 (C) Descriptions of Federal policies and 

2 programs relating to de jure or de facto state3 less individuals in the United States or under 

4 United States jurisdiction, including recognition 

5 of status, documentation requirements, assist6 ance, and detention. 

7 (D) A list of countries and territories with 

8 significant de jure or de facto stateless popu9 lations under their jurisdictions and the condi10 tions and consequences of such de jure or de 

11 facto statelessness of such individuals. 

12 (E) United States international efforts to 

13 prevent further de jure or de facto statelessness 

14 and encourage the granting of full legal protec15 tion of the human rights of de jure or de facto 

16 stateless individuals. 

17 (2) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It shall be the 

18 policy of the United States to comply with the prin19 ciples and provisions of the 1954 Convention Relat20 ing to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 

21 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness to the 

22 fullest extent possible and to encourage other coun23 tries to do so as well. 

24 (3) ACTIONS BY SECRETARY OF STATE.— 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
15 

•HR 72 IH

1 (A) INCREASE IN RESOURCES AND

2 STAFF.—The Secretary of State shall perma3 nently increase in the Bureau of Population, 

4 Refugees, and Migration in the Department of 

5 State the resources dedicated to and staff as6 signed to work toward the prevention and reso7 lution of de jure and de facto statelessness and 

8 the protection of de jure or de facto stateless 

9 individuals. 

10 (B) COORDINATION.—To coordinate 

11 United States policies toward combating de jure 

12 and de facto statelessness, the Secretary of 

13 State shall establish an Interagency Working 

14 Group to Combat Statelessness. This working 

15 group should include representatives of the Bu16 reau of Population, Refugees and Migration, 

17 the Bureau of International Organizations, the 

18 Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and 

19 Labor, the Office of Trafficking in Persons of 

20 the Department of State, and the United States 

21 Agency for International Development, as well 

22 as representatives from relevant offices of the 

23 Department of Justice and relevant offices of 

24 the Department of Homeland Security. 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
16 

•HR 72 IH

1 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

3 as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of 

4 this subsection. 

Æ 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS