Legal Definitions - stateless person

A stateless person is an individual who is not considered a citizen or national by any country under its laws. This means they do not legally belong to any state and are not entitled to the rights and protections typically afforded to citizens, such as a passport, the right to vote, or consistent access to public services. International law, particularly the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, aims to provide certain basic protections and define the responsibilities of these individuals in the countries where they reside.

• Example 1: Discriminatory Laws

  Elena belongs to a minority group in a country that, through discriminatory laws, revoked the citizenship of her community generations ago. Despite being born and raised in this country, and her family having lived there for centuries, she is not recognized as a citizen by this country or any other. She cannot obtain a passport, vote, or access many public services, effectively making her a stateless person because no nation considers her a national.

• Example 2: State Dissolution and Border Changes

  Dmitri was born in a region that was once part of a larger country. After the country dissolved, the new successor states established complex citizenship laws. Due to administrative oversights and specific legal requirements he couldn't meet, Dmitri was never formally recognized as a citizen by the new country where he resided, nor by any of the other successor states or his parents' original homeland. Consequently, he lacks any legal nationality, making him a stateless person as no country claims him as a citizen.

• Example 3: Birth to Stateless Parents

  Maria's parents are both stateless individuals who fled their original homelands years ago and were never granted citizenship elsewhere. Maria was born in a country that primarily follows jus sanguinis, meaning citizenship is inherited from parents rather than automatically granted by place of birth. Since neither of her parents holds citizenship from any country, Maria was born without a nationality, making her a stateless person from birth because no country's laws recognize her as a national.