jure or de facto stateless and as a consequence are unable 
to avail themselves of their right to a nationality and its 
concomitant rights and obligations and are excluded from 
full participation in civil society. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of 
Human Rights offers everyone the right to a nation-
ality. 
(2) The right to a nationality is a foundation of 
human rights, and a deterrent to displacement and 
disaffection. The state is the primary vehicle 
through which individuals are guaranteed their in-
alienable rights and are made subject to the rule of 
law. Regional stability and security are undermined 
when individuals cannot avail themselves of their 
right to a nationality and its concomitant rights and 
obligations and are excluded from full participation 
in civil society. 
(3) In the aftermath of World War II, millions 
of people were displaced and arbitrarily deprived of 
their nationalities and their protection of citizenship. 
In the 21st century, the adverse effects of de jure 
or de facto statelessness still impact at least an esti-
mated 11,000,000 million people worldwide and re-
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quire a strong commitment by the international com-
munity to address this serious issue. 
(4) The lack of citizenship or the inability to 
document one’s ties to a state often results in severe 
hardships and discrimination, particularly the inabil-
ity to pursue lawful employment and a sustainable 
livelihood, own property, or enjoy legally protected 
family bonds and increases the likelihood that such 
persons may fall victim to traffickers and organized 
criminal groups who prey on the vulnerability of un-
protected de jure or de facto stateless persons. The 
Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report 
for 2008 noted that stateless victims of trafficking 
face difficulties in repatriating and in accessing crit-
ical medical, social, or legal services and called on 
the international community to give greater atten-
tion to birth registration and the provision of more 
effective and accessible avenues for the acquisition of 
legal residency or citizenship. 
(5) Regional security is enhanced when States 
effectively respect the right of nationality, as this 
right ensures the availability of peaceful means of 
recourse to address grievances and claims, including 
through national, regional, or international court 
systems. 
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(6) Countries have the sovereign right to deter-
mine procedures and conditions for acquisition and 
termination of citizenship, and exercise of this right 
should be linked to the responsibility of preventing 
de jure and de facto statelessness and the respect 
for other universal principles of human rights, in 
particular the universal antidiscrimination norm. 
(7) The 1954 Convention Relating to the Sta-
tus of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on 
the Reduction of Statelessness were adopted to regu-
late the legal status and treatment of individuals 
who are de jure or de facto stateless and to prevent 
de jure and de facto statelessness. 
(8) At least an estimated 11,000,000 individ-
uals worldwide currently are unable to avail them-
selves of any effective nationality or cannot fully ac-
cess their rights as citizens and obtain protection 
from a country. 
(9) De jure or de facto statelessness can result 
from factors including political change, targeted per-
secution or discrimination, transfers of territory, 
adoption of restrictive laws relating to marriage, 
place or registration of birth, or incongruous na-
tional citizenship laws. 
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(10) Individuals who are de jure or de facto 
stateless are unable to avail themselves of the rights 
of free people everywhere to an effective nationality, 
to the rights to legal residence, to travel, to work in 
the formal economy or professions, to attend school, 
to access basic health services, to purchase or own 
property, to vote, or to hold elected office, and to 
enjoy the protection and security of a country. 
(11) Article 24 of the International Covenant 
on Civil and Political Rights provides that every 
child shall be registered at birth and that every child 
has the right to acquire a nationality. 
(12) UNICEF leads the efforts with govern-
ments, particularly in the developing world, to pro-
mote universal, accessible registration and docu-
mentation of all births but is hard pressed to find 
the needed human and financial resources necessary 
to encourage widespread implementation of needed 
reforms. 
(13) Article 9(2) of the Convention on the 
Elimination of Discrimination Against Women 
grants women equal rights with men with respect to 
transmitting the nationality of their children. 
(14) The Office of the United Nations High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been 
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given the mandate by the international community 
to work to prevent de jure and de facto statelessness 
and to identify, protect, and find remedies for indi-
viduals now considered de jure or de facto stateless. 
(15) The UNHCR lacks sufficient resources to 
undertake this important work in a systematic and 
comprehensive manner to identify, protect, and find 
timely solutions for the millions of individuals who 
are de jure or de facto stateless. 
SEC. 3. THE UNITED NATIONS. 
(a) POLICY.—It shall be the policy of the United 
States that the President and the Permanent Representa-
tive of the United States to the United Nations work with 
the international community to increase political and fi-
nancial support for the work of the UNHCR to prevent 
and resolve problems related to de jure and de facto state-
lessness, and to promote the rights of the de jure or de 
facto stateless, by taking these and other actions: 
(1) Increasing the attention of the United Na-
tions and the UNHCR to de jure and de facto state-
lessness and increasing its capacity to reduce state-
lessness around the world by coordinating the 
mainstreaming of de jure and de facto statelessness 
into all of the United Nations human rights work, 
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in cooperation with all relevant United Nations 
agencies. 
(2) Urging United Nations country teams in 
countries with significant de jure or de facto state-
less populations to devote increasing attention and 
resources to undertake coordinated efforts by all 
United Nations offices, funds, and programs to 
bring about the full registration and documentation 
of all persons resident in the territory of each coun-
try, either as citizens or as individuals in need of 
international protection. 
(3) Urging the creation of an Inter-Agency 
Task Force on Statelessness with representation 
from UNHCR, UNICEF and other relevant United 
Nations agencies that will coordinate to increase 
agency awareness and information exchange on de 
jure and de facto statelessness to ensure a consistent 
and comprehensive approach to the identification of 
stateless groups and individuals and resolution of 
their status. 
(4) Urging that nationality and de jure and de 
facto statelessness issues are addressed in all coun-
try reviews conducted by United Nations treaty bod-
ies and relevant special mechanisms engaged in 
country visits, and pursuing creation of a standing 
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mechanism within the United Nations to com-
plement the work of UNHCR in addressing issues of 
de jure and de facto statelessness that give rise to 
urgent human rights or security concerns. 
(5) Urging the UNHCHR to include nationality 
and statelessness in all country-specific and thematic 
monitoring, reporting, training, and protection ac-
tivities, and across special procedures, and to des-
ignate at least one human rights officer to monitor, 
report, and coordinate the office’s advocacy on na-
tionality and de jure and de facto statelessness. 
(6) Urging the United Nations to ensure that 
its work on trafficking includes measures to restore 
secure citizenship to trafficked women and girls, and 
to work with Member States to guarantee that na-
tional legislation gives women full and equal rights 
regarding citizenship. 
(7) Urging the United Nations to increase its 
capacity to respond to the needs of de jure or de 
facto stateless individuals, particularly children, and 
to strengthen and expand the United Nations pro-
tection and assistance activities, particularly in field 
operations, to better respond to the wide range of 
protection and assistance needs of de jure or de 
facto stateless individuals. 
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(8) Urging the UNICEF to increase its efforts 
to encourage all Member States of the United Na-
tions to permit full and easy access to birth registra-
tion for all children born in their territories, particu-
larly in Member States in which there are displaced 
populations, and work with the UNHCR and Mem-
ber States to ensure the issuance of birth certificates 
to all children born to refugees and displaced per-
sons. 
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi-
tion to regular United States contributions to the 
UNHCR, there is authorized to be appropriated not less 
than $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2009 and each subsequent 
fiscal year to be made available to improve the UNHCR’s 
assistance to de jure or de facto stateless individuals. Such 
funds may be used to— 
(1) protect the rights, meet emergency humani-
tarian needs, and provide assistance to de jure or de 
facto stateless groups and individuals; 
(2) provide additional resources to— 
(A) increase the number of protection offi-
cers; 
(B) increase the number of professional 
staff in the statelessness unit; and 
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(C) train protection officers and United 
Nations country teams in the field to identify, 
reduce, protect, and prevent de jure and de 
facto statelessness; 
(3) improve identification of de jure or de facto 
stateless groups and individuals by carrying out a 
comprehensive annual study of the scope of de jure 
and de facto statelessness worldwide, including 
causes of de jure and de facto statelessness and dis-
semination of best practices for remedying de jure 
and de facto statelessness; and 
(4) increase the United Nations educational and 
technical assistance programs to prevent de jure and 
de facto statelessness, including outreach to Member 
States and their legislatures, with particular empha-
sis on those countries determined to have protracted 
de jure or de facto statelessness situations. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS TO THE 
UNICEF.—In addition to regular United States contribu-
tions to the UNICEF, there is authorized to be appro-
priated $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2009 and each subse-
quent fiscal year be made available to augment to the 
UNICEF’s ability to aid countries with significant de jure 
or de facto stateless populations to bring about the full 
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registration of all children born to de jure or de facto 
stateless parents. 
SEC. 4. THE UNITED STATES. 
(a) FOREIGN POLICY.—Given the importance of ob-
taining and preserving nationality and the protection of 
a government, and of preventing the exploitation or traf-
ficking of de jure or de facto stateless groups or individ-
uals, the President shall make the prevention and reduc-
tion of de jure or de facto statelessness an important goal 
of United States foreign policy and human rights efforts. 
Such efforts shall include— 
(1) calling upon host countries to protect and 
assume responsibility for de jure or de facto state-
less groups or individuals; 
(2) working with countries of origin to facilitate 
the resolution of problems faced by de jure or de 
facto stateless groups or individuals; 
(3) working with countries of origin and host 
countries to facilitate the resolution of disputes and 
conflicts that cause or result in the creation of de 
jure or de facto statelessness; 
(4) encouraging host countries to afford de jure 
or de facto stateless groups or individuals the full 
protection of the 1954 Convention Relating to the 
Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Conven-
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tion on the Reduction of Statelessness and all rel-
evant international conventions; 
(5) directing the Secretary of State to provide 
assistance to countries to prevent and resolve situa-
tions of de jure or de facto statelessness and to pre-
vent the trafficking or exploitation of de jure or de 
facto stateless individuals; 
(6) directing the Office of Trafficking in Per-
sons of the Department of State to continue to docu-
ment and analyze the effects of statelessness on traf-
ficking in persons, both as a cause of trafficking and 
as an obstacle to reaching and assisting trafficked 
persons; and 
(7) encouraging and facilitating the work of 
nongovernmental organizations in the United States 
and abroad that provide legal and humanitarian sup-
port to de jure or de facto stateless groups or indi-
viduals, to increase the access of de jure or de facto 
stateless groups or individuals to such organizations, 
and to encourage other governments to provide simi-
lar support and access. 
(b) DOMESTIC POLICY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Given the importance of pre-
venting new instances of de jure or de facto state-
lessness and the trafficking of de jure or de facto 
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stateless individuals, and of protecting the human 
rights of de jure or de facto stateless individuals, the 
President shall submit to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Foreign Relations and the Committee on the Judici-
ary of the Senate a report that includes the fol-
lowing: 
(A) 
A 
detailed 
explanation 
of 
what 
changes, if any, to United States law would 
have to occur should the United States wish to 
comply with the terms of the 1954 Convention 
Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons or 
the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of State-
lessness. 
(B) Information on de jure or de facto 
stateless individuals in the United States, or 
under the jurisdiction of the United States, and 
their conditions. Such information should, with 
respect to such individuals, include information 
relating to their places of birth, causes of de 
jure or de facto statelessness, nationalities at 
birth, descriptions of family conditions, and de-
scriptions of available assistance. 
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(C) Descriptions of Federal policies and 
programs relating to de jure or de facto state-
less individuals in the United States or under 
United States jurisdiction, including recognition 
of status, documentation requirements, assist-
ance, and detention. 
(D) A list of countries and territories with 
significant de jure or de facto stateless popu-
lations under their jurisdictions and the condi-
tions and consequences of such de jure or de 
facto statelessness of such individuals. 
(E) United States international efforts to 
prevent further de jure or de facto statelessness 
and encourage the granting of full legal protec-
tion of the human rights of de jure or de facto 
stateless individuals. 
(2) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It shall be the 
policy of the United States to comply with the prin-
ciples and provisions of the 1954 Convention Relat-
ing to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 
Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness to the 
fullest extent possible and to encourage other coun-
tries to do so as well. 
(3) ACTIONS BY SECRETARY OF STATE.— 
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