The Geneva office of the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung is today publishing the Atlas of the Stateless (French, English). It will be presented in an online conference, in which the authors of the atlas and members of the UN refugee agency will participate.
The Atlas of the Stateless, which is now published in three languages (French, English and German), is a unique compilation of information on a subject that has been relatively little researched, namely the situation of stateless persons in the world. It contains six thematic articles on the situation of stateless persons, 19 country examples and 53 maps and graphs.
“Stateless people are people who are particularly vulnerable because no state protects them and they have no access to basic rights. They do not exist on paper, hardly appear in statistics and mostly live on the margins of society without access to basic state services, such as health care,” says Eva Wuchold, Programme Director Social Rights of the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung in Geneva.
4.2 million stateless persons are registered with the UN refugee agency UNHCR on the basis of reports from UN member states. However, the actual figures are likely to be much higher. It is difficult to estimate how many people are stateless worldwide, as the data basis is incomplete. In many European countries, too, there are no special procedures for determining the extent of statelessness.
Excluded, and in some cases threatened with imprisonment or deportation because of their status, stateless persons live in constant fear and distress, and their situation has worsened with the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Statelessness is an extreme form of exclusion that can be remedied by relatively simple legal means. The Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung promotes the concept of “global social rights”, an approach that would put an end to the problems of stateless people, as it calls for equal rights for all people regardless of their origin, place of residence, gender, skin colour or cultural background.
The UN refugee agency UNHCR celebrates the anniversary of the #IBelong campaign in November each year, which aims to end statelessness by 2024. This atlas aims to raise awareness and support international efforts to end statelessness.
More information
The Atlas of the Stateless in English:
https://www.rosalux.de/fileadmin/rls_uploads/pdfs/sonst_publikationen/atlasofthestateless2020_web_201029.pdf
The film “There are many reasons for Statelessness”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxjpTnbPGyk&feature=youtu.be
Link to the conference of November 10:
https://www.facebook.com/events/351771085888962/
Contact
Eva Wuchold
Programmleitung Soziale Rechte, Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung Geneva
eva.wuchold@rosalux.org
+ 41 (0)22 342 46 38 / + 49 172 708 46 09
Source: RealWire