A stateless person is a person who is not considered to be a national of any State under the operation of its law.
In Indonesia, both the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, with the assistance of civil society, have taken important steps to address the issue of statelessness.
A revised Citizenship Law was enacted in 2006, which removed previous gender bias to allow women to pass their nationality along to their children, and putting in place provisions for acquisition and reacquisition of citizenship.
As part of its global #IBelong campaign to end statelessness by 2024, UNHCR is working with relevant ministries and other government departments, NGOs, UN agencies (UNFPA, UNICEF), and civil society to advocate for improved access to birth registration as a measure to prevent statelessness among Indonesians.
UNHCR also hopes that the efforts already made by the Government of Indonesia to reduce statelessness in Indonesia will lead to ratification of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.