Source: http://courtofhumanrights.org/citizenship__nationality
Timestamp: 2019-03-25 14:04:02
Document Index: 177593100

Matched Legal Cases: ['art. 20', 'art. 2', 'art. 17', 'art. 31', 'art. 31', 'art. 31']

COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS - Citizenship & Nationality
The right to a nationality is of paramount importance to the realization of other fundamental human rights. Possession of a nationality carries with it the diplomatic protection of the country of nationality and is also often a legal or practical requirement for the exercise of fundamental rights. Consequently, the right to a nationality has been described as the “right to have rights.” See Trop v. Dulles, 356 U.S. 86, 101-102 (1958). Individuals who lack a nationality or an effective citizenship are therefore among the world’s most vulnerable to human rights violations.
In recognition of the importance of having a nationality, a number of regional and international human rights instruments include the right to a nationality. Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to a nationality” and that “no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.” See also American Convention on Human Rights, art. 20. The right to a nationality is often articulated through protection of the rights of children and the principle of non-discrimination. For example, Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child states that every child has the right to acquire a nationality, while Article 5 of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination requires States to “prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, color, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of the following rights…the right to nationality.”
Despite recognition of the right to a nationality, there are currently an estimated twelve million people who do not have a nationality and are therefore stateless. UNHCR, Stateless People. While statelessness is a global problem, it is particularly prevalent in South East Asia, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and several countries in Africa. UNHCR & Asylum Aid, Mapping Statelessness in The United Kingdom 22 (2011). Estimates show that the countries with the greatest number of stateless persons residing within their borders are Iraq, Kenya, Myanmar, Nepal, Syria, Thailand, Estonia, and Latvia. Id.
The 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (1954 Statelessness Convention) was drafted in order to guarantee the protection of these individuals’ fundamental rights. Article 1(1) of the 1954 Statelessness Convention defines a stateless person as “a person who is not recognized as a national by any State under operation of its law.” This definition has subsequently become a part of customary international law. See UNHCR, Expert Meeting – The Concept of Stateless Persons Under International Law (Summary Conclusions) 2 (2010) (commonly referred to as the UNHCR Prato Summary Conclusions).
The 1954 Statelessness Convention is similar in structure to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. This is because the 1954 Statelessness Convention was originally intended to be a Protocol to the 1951 Refugee Convention. See, e.g., Equal Rights Trust, The Protection of Stateless Persons in Detention under International Law (Jan. 2009) 19 (Working Paper). It is not surprising, therefore, that the 1954 Statelessness Convention addresses the same rights as those covered in the 1951 Refugee Convention, with a few distinctions. The 1954 Statelessness Convention applies some of the same exclusion clauses as those found in the 1951 Refugee Convention. For example, the 1954 Statelessness Convention does not apply “to persons who are at present receiving from organs or agencies of the United Nations other than the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees protection or assistance so long as they are receiving such protection or assistance.” 1954 Statelessness Convention, art. 2(i).
The 1954 Statelessness Convention also recognizes the rights of stateless persons to education, housing, access to the courts, employment, and public relief, among other rights. In some cases, such as in access to the courts and access to public relief and primary education, stateless persons are to be treated in the same way as nationals. See id., arts. 16, 23 and 22. In other areas, including wage-earning employment and housing, stateless persons are to be given the same treatment as non-citizens in the same circumstances. See id., art. 17 and 21 Recognizing that many stateless persons lack documentation, Article 27 requires States to issue identity documents to stateless persons on their territory, while Article 28 obliges States to issue travel documents to stateless persons unless there are compelling reasons for national security or public order for not doing so. See id., arts. 27 and 28.
A major limitation of the 1954 Statelessness Convention, and where it departs significantly from the 1951 Refugee Convention, is the protection afforded in Article 31. Article 31 prohibits the expulsion of stateless persons lawfully in the territory of a State Party save for grounds of national security or public order. See id. art. 31(1). Article 31 also requires that the expulsion of stateless persons on these grounds be “in pursuance of a decision reached in due process of law.” Id. art. 31(2). The issue with Article 31 is that it limits its protection to stateless persons lawfully on the State’s territory. Because many stateless persons lack identity and travel documents, they have no means of gaining lawful entry into a State and thus are ineligible for protection from expulsion. This is in sharp contrast to Article 31 of the 1951 Refugee Convention, which recognizes the difficulties refugees often face in acquiring valid travel documents and prohibits States from penalizing refugees who enter their territories illegally. See 1951 Refugee Convention, art. 31(1).
Article 32 of the 1954 Statelessness Convention requires States to “as far as possible facilitate the assimilation and naturalization of stateless persons.” More detailed provisions for the acquisition of nationality as well as the prevention of statelessness in the first place are found in the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (1961 Statelessness Convention). Article 1(2) of the 1961 Statelessness Convention describes the conditions a State may place on granting nationality and stipulates that a State may require a period of habitual residence but it may not exceed five years. The 1961 Statelessness Convention also provides that children should acquire the nationality of the State in which they are born if they would otherwise be stateless and that a State may not deprive an individual of their nationality if doing so would render the individual stateless. See 1961 Statelessness Convention, arts. 1 and 8.
Nationality can be a contentious issue, however, as the acquisition and deprivation of nationality implicates other areas of the law including a State’s sovereign right to determine who may enter and remain within its territory. Consequently neither the 1954 nor the 1961 Statelessness Conventions are widely ratified and a large number of States have domestic laws that deprive individuals access to a nationality on a discriminatory basis and/or do not adequately protect the human rights of stateless persons on their territory.﻿﻿
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