Resolution on the Half-Day Special Meeting on "Legal Identity and Statelessness"

The Asian African Legal Consultative Organization at its Forty-Fifth Session,

Noting the appreciation of the views expressed by the Secretary General of AALCO, the UNHCR Chief of Mission, New Delhi, the Chairperson, Panelists, as well as the deliberations reflecting the views of Member States on the need for the international community to collectively work towards identification of Stateless persons and amelioration of their conditions,

Acknowledging the role assigned to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to provide technical and advisory services to States concerning the avoidance and reduction of statelessness, and the importance of UNHCR's efforts to disseminate information and to promote cooperation,

Recognizing the sovereign right of States to establish laws governing the acquisition, renunciation or loss of nationality,

Also recognizing the right of everyone to a nationality and the right not to be arbitrarily deprived of one's nationality,

Affirming the fact that the legal bond of nationality of an individual is inseparable from the legal identity of a person in any society,

Deeply concerned about the need to address the precarious situation of stateless persons, which include the deprivation of the enjoyment of their fundamental human rights,

Being fully conscious of the fact that loss of nationality entails harsh legal consequences for persons in general and women and children in particu1ar,

Desiring to promote the progressive development of legal principles concerning nationality and of finding appropriate solutions to avoid as far as possible cases of statelessness,

Stressing in this regard that the prevention and reduction of statelessness and the protection of stateless persons are important in the prevention of potential refugee situations,

Being deeply concerned about the increasing number of stateless persons, and their vulnerable position in the country in which they reside,

Reiterating the importance of the international legal instruments, namely the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness which seek to give protection to stateless persons by conferring minimum rights and to identify and reduce the conditions which create statelessness, respectively,

1. Commends the Secretariat of AALCO and the UNHCR for their earnest efforts in organizing this half day Special Meeting on Legal Identity and Statelessness; as well as the upcoming release of the Special Study on "Statelessness: An Overview from the Asian, African and Middle East Perspective";

2. Thanks the Panelists who have given valuable insight on the different aspects of the topic as well as on the 'Regional Approaches and Comparative Analysis of the problem of statelessness' during this meeting;

3. Encourages the Member States to review nationality legislation with a view to reducing and avoiding statelessness, consistent with fundamental principles of international law;

4. Also encourages the Member States to raise awareness about the problem of statelessness and to actively cooperate in the identification of problems of statelessness paying particular regard to establishing identity and acquiring relevant documentation for women, children and families in instances of displacement, migration or trafficking;

5. Urges Member States in general and those Member States, which have the presence of stateless persons in particular, to take the necessary legal and institutional measures to ameliorate the precarious situation of stateless persons;

6. Invites Member States to consider the possibility of acceding to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness to address the plight of stateless persons in an effective way;

7. Requests the Secretary-General of AALCO and UNHCR to seek the possibility of organizing a follow-up meeting in relation with future activities on the subject in AALCO's Centre for Research and Training (CRT) with a view to enhancing the legal regime and legal expertise of Member States in this area; and

8. Decides to remain seized of the issue as part of ongoing deliberations concerning the "Status and Treatment of Refugees" and decides to place the item on the agenda of the Forty-Sixth Session.