Officially, there are 4.2 million stateless people in 78 countries worldwide. But estimates put the exact number close to 12 million people in this situation, around a third of whom are children. In 2014, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) set up an action plan to eradicate the phenomenon by 2024. Côte d'Ivoire is the first African country to implement actions to help achieve this goal.
Particularly vulnerable, stateless people are deprived of all their rights. According to the international legal definition, they are "persons whom no State recognizes as its national by application of its legislation". Statelessness can result from discrimination against certain ethnic or religious groups, gender discrimination, the emergence of new states, transfers of territory between existing states and loopholes in nationality laws. Whatever the cause, it's hard to live without a nationality.
Côte d'Ivoire: nearly 2 million stateless people
Côte d'Ivoire is home to one of the world's largest populations of stateless people. A study carried out in 2019 by the Ivorian authorities and supported by UNHCR identified 1.6 million people as being stateless or at risk of becoming so. In recent years, the Ivorian government has stepped up its efforts to put an end to this situation, following up its accession in 2013 to the two international conventions on statelessness and the adoption of the Abidjan Declaration on the eradication of statelessness by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 2015.
Two decrees signed on September 2, 2020 formally establish the procedures that will regularize the status of stateless people, thus implementing a crucial part of Côte d'Ivoire's National Action Plan. As a result, people who previously had no recognized legal existence will be able to receive identity documents, enroll in school, access health services, seek formal employment, open a bank account, buy land or participate in political life.
Statelessness in Africa
In May 2017, West Africa became the first region in the world to adopt a binding action plan (Banjul Action Plan), through which ECOWAS member states commit to ending statelessness. Nine West and Central African states have committed to implementing procedures similar to those in Côte d'Ivoire. Eleven countries have launched studies on statelessness or have included questions to collect data on statelessness in forthcoming population censuses. Benin, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau and Mali have officially adopted national action plans for the eradication of statelessness. Studies on the issue of statelessness are being carried out as a basis for legislative reform.
" The right to a nationality is a fundamental human right and, in this time of crisis, it is a matter of life and death." Filippo Grandi, High Commissioner for Refugees
#IBelong
In November 2014, UNHCR launched a global campaign entitled: #IBelong or #Jexist. Together with States, civil society and other UN agencies, the aim is to end statelessness by 2024 by resolving current stateless situations, preventing the emergence of new cases, and better identifying and protecting stateless populations. Six years after the launch of the campaign, 95 governments, civil society and international and regional organizations have pledged to combat statelessness.
Consequences of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risk of marginalization for stateless people. As their situation does not allow access to healthcare, they are excluded from measures to prevent and combat the virus. Some are afraid to go to free services for fear that their status exposes them to the risk of detention or deportation. The head of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, states that "this virus highlights both the devastating consequences of statelessness and the urgent need to eliminate it." He reminds us that "the right to a nationality is a fundamental human right and, in this time of crisis, it is a matter of life and death".
In novemb2014, UNHCR launched a cae question of life or death"