A stateless person is an individual ‘who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law’. In other words, a stateless individual is a person who does not legally belong anywhere. No government is responsible for his or her rights, survival or existence. Stateless people are forced to lead an illegal life and are highly vulnerable to increased ostracism, discrimination and insecurity. Where citizenship is the norm, statelessness is an exceptional phenomenon. Some people are stateless because of ethnic persecution; others lost their citizenship during reformation of the state; some simply fell between the cracks of citizenship laws; and others passed on their statelessness to their children. National citizenship provides people with a sense of identity and is a key to full participation in society (UNHCR, 2012:2). Since only ‘citizens’ are allowed an unrestricted right to enter and reside in a country under international law, stateless people are often left without any residence permit and are subject to repeated or continuous detention. The purpose of this project is to analyse and establish the importance of a ‘right to have rights’ or citizenship by examining and evaluating the plight of existing stateless people in Latvia, Estonia and Myanmar. The study explores the human rights conditions created due to statelessness, adequacy of international organisations’ response to such situations and potency of current legal framework for the protection of stateless individuals.
Table of Contents
Part One – Why Statelessness
Chapter 1: Introduction
I. Research design and question
II. Defining concepts
III. Relevance
Chapter 2: Statelessness and Right to have Rights
I. Human rights with or without citizenship
II. Problematising statelessness
III. Causes of statelessness
Chapter 3: Existing International Legal Framework
Part Two – Case Studies and Analyses
Chapter 4: Case Studies
I. Rohingyas in Myanmar
1. History and political context
2. The humanitarian crisis
3. International organisations’ response
II. Russian-speaking Minority in Latvia and Estonia
1. History and political context
2. The humanitarian crisis
3. International organisations’ response
Chapter 5: Against Statelessness: The Argument for ‘Right to Have Rights’
I. Answer to research questions
II. Policy and theoretical implications
III. Limitations and future recommendations
IV. Conclusion
Objective and Research Focus
This dissertation examines the critical importance of formal citizenship as a mechanism for protecting the human rights of stateless populations. By analyzing the legal and sociopolitical conditions of stateless groups, the study addresses the core question of whether human rights can be effectively safeguarded in the absence of national citizenship.
- The impact of statelessness on individual rights and access to social services.
- The inadequacy of current international legal frameworks in guaranteeing citizenship.
- Comparative analysis of the Rohingya community in Myanmar and Russian-speaking minorities in the Baltic States.
- The link between lack of legal nationality, forced displacement, and regional instability.
- The argument for formal citizenship as a prerequisite for the protection of civil liberties.
Auszug aus dem Buch
1. Impact of statelessness on the individual and the family
“When I tell people I am stateless, what I see in their face is shock, ignorance and mistrust. It’s like when the AIDS virus was first discovered, and suddenly people were suspicious of anyone who was HIV-positive. The blank expression on people’s face totally kills you. You always have to explain. It’s as if you had to prove your right to exist!”- Railya Abulkhanova, Kazakhstan (UNHCR, 2014a). Railya is a Ph.D., a published author and yet jobless. She has lived most of her life in Kazakhstan, but since she could not fulfil citizenship criteria at the time of USSR division, she has no claim to a normal life.
Lack of citizenship not only robs a person of his/her right to earn a comfortable life; it also leaves them with a ‘sense of worthlessness’ (Leclerc, 2007:6). ‘This is due in part to the role that nationality, as membership, plays in the formation of a person’s identity and the connection that they feel to the place where they live and the people around them’ (UNHCR, 2012:31). By definition, legal nationality is the membership that allows individuals to access rights to voice concern or influence change, thus stateless individuals are fundamentally captured in a vicious circle of formalised discrimination, social exclusion, insecurity and voicelessness (Sokoloff, 2005:20).
Summary of Chapters
Chapter 1: Introduction: Defines statelessness and establishes the research design, emphasizing the geopolitical relevance of citizenship in the modern world.
Chapter 2: Statelessness and ‘right to have rights’: Discusses the academic debate on the necessity of citizenship and analyzes the severe socio-economic impacts of statelessness on individuals, society, and the state.
Chapter 3: Existing international legal framework: Reviews the existing international treaties and conventions, highlighting their limitations in providing protection and guaranteed nationality to stateless people.
Chapter 4: Case Studies: Provides an in-depth analysis of the Rohingya in Myanmar and Russian-speaking minorities in Latvia and Estonia, illustrating different forms of exclusion and state responses.
Chapter 5: Against Statelessness: The Argument for Right to Have Rights: Synthesizes the findings to argue that formal citizenship is the essential mechanism for human rights protection and proposes policy recommendations.
Key Terms
Statelessness, Citizenship, Human Rights, Nationality, Rohingya, Baltic States, Social Exclusion, International Law, Forced Displacement, Political Rights, Ethnic Persecution, UNHCR, Legal Bond, Right to have Rights, Human Security.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this dissertation?
The dissertation primarily explores the nexus between formal citizenship and the protection of human rights, arguing that without a legal bond to a state, individuals are systematically deprived of fundamental rights.
What are the primary themes discussed?
Central themes include the impact of statelessness on human security, the ineffectiveness of current international legal protections, and the struggle for political and social inclusion by marginalized groups.
What is the main research question of this study?
The work seeks to determine whether formal citizenship is the only viable mechanism for the effective inclusion and protection of stateless people.
Which methodology is applied?
The study employs a comparative case study approach, analyzing two distinct stateless populations to evaluate human rights conditions and the response of international organizations.
What does the main body of the work cover?
It covers theoretical debates on citizenship, reviews international human rights frameworks, and provides detailed case studies on the Rohingya in Myanmar and Russian-speaking minorities in the Baltic States.
Which keywords best characterize this research?
The research is characterized by terms such as statelessness, citizenship, human rights, and legal nationality.
How does the Rohingya case differ from the Baltic case?
The Rohingya case involves absolute exclusion and systemic persecution, whereas the Baltic case involves stateless populations who enjoy social rights but face significant barriers to full political integration.
What does the author conclude about the "right to have rights"?
The author concludes that international legal protections are insufficient and that universal human rights remain largely inaccessible without the concrete protection afforded by national citizenship.
- Quote paper
- Arshi Aggarwal (Author), 2014, Statelessness and ‘right to have rights’. Importance of citizenship in protecting human rights of stateless communities, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/286323
