Protection

Who We Help
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Protection

Protecting stateless people means ensuring that they can exercise their human rights until such time as they can acquire a nationality.

UNHCR provides guidance and technical assistance to governments to establish procedures to recognize stateless people and give them a legal status along with basic human rights. UNHCR does this by encouraging states to accede to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and by advocating for the respect of rights to which stateless people are entitled under other human rights instruments.

At a grass roots level, UNHCR works with NGOs, human rights groups and other UN partners to make sure that stateless people can obtain access to education, health care, employment and other basic rights. UNHCR also works with partners to protect stateless people from indefinite detention, trafficking and violence.

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Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons

Under the 1954 Convention relating to the status of Stateless persons, Geneva 2014.

Statelessness Determination Procedures. Identifying and Protecting Stateless Persons

A document for States on establishing a mechanism to identify and document a stateless person.

Global Roundtable on Alternatives to Detention of Asylum-Seekers, Refugees, Migrants and Stateless Persons

Summary Conclusions of the first Global Roundtable on Alternatives to Detention, held in May 2011 in Geneva

Beyond Detention. A Global Strategy to support governments to end the detention of asylum-seekers and refugees.

UNHCR's Global Strategy - Beyond Detention 2014-2019 aims to make the detention of asylum-seekers an exceptional rather than routine practice

1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons

The 1954 Convention provides the definition of a "stateless person" and the foundation of the international legal framework to address statelessness.

Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons; Its History and Interpretation

A Commentary by Nehemiah Robinson of the Institute of Jewish Affairs at the 1955 World Jewish Congress, re-printed by UNHCR's Division of International Protection in 1997

Statelessness Documents on Refworld

Documents highlighting good practices to address statelessness are available in Refworld