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Why the Convention on Statelessness Matters
The Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, which is marking its 50th anniversary, remains the best international tool we have to help the more than 12 million people around the world who have no nationality anywhere.
Case Watch: Battling Statelessness in Slovenia
Twenty years after the break-up of the Yugoslav federation, the European Court of Human Rights is focusing on the plight of 25,000 people who were erased from Slovenia's registry of residents after the republic declared its independence.
Kuric v. Slovenia
This case concerns citizenship rights and statelessness in Slovenia.
Ethnic Profiling Challenge in France Moves Forward
A groundbreaking constitutional challenge to the widespread use of ethnic profiling by French police took a major step forward this week, as judges from across the country agreed to refer cases heard before local courts to the highest court in...
Fact Sheet: Children’s Right to a Nationality
This fact sheet explains the causes and consequences of statelessness for children around the world.
Without Citizenship: Statelessness, Discrimination, and Repression in Kuwait
This report looks at the bidoon in Kuwait, a large population of stateless persons in the small emirate, with particular focus on discrimination in access to, and withdrawal of, nationality.
Europe Finds Some Religions More Equal Than Others
By banning headscarves, what message is Europe sending to its Muslim population? That we are open, tolerant and pluralistic, but not towards you?
Time to Turn Legal Victories into Better Lives for Roma
Despite considerable legal gains, discrimination against Roma remains widespread in Europe, and while violence has subsided in some countries, it has increased in others.
Nationality and Discrimination: The Case of Kenyan Nubians
This Open Society Justice Initiative fact sheet provides an overview of statelessness and discrimination in access to nationality among Nubians in Kenya.
Dominican Reforms Fall Short
The Dominican Republic is talking up reforms in its discriminatory process for acquiring national identity documents. A closer look reveals a much less encouraging picture.
Stateless in Kuwait: Who Are the Bidoon?
Believe it or not, one of the richest countries on earth simply cannot be bothered to document the size of its stateless population, let alone resolve this long-standing problem.
Something Rotten in Denmark
It's rare that statelessness finds its way into the headlines. But with one minister resigning and another now under attack, a fight over citizenship policy is roiling the political scene in Denmark.
Case Watch: Roma Sterilization Case Reaches European Court
V. C. was just twenty years old when she was sterilized after giving birth in a Slovakian hospital. She claims her Roma ethnicity played a vital role in her sterilization. Next week, the European Court of Human Rights will hear the case.
Denied a Shot at a Good Education
Europe's top human-rights watchdog issued an urgent rebuke to the Czech Republic last week: Stop the continued racial segregation of Roma children in schools, which damns them to "a future as second-class citizens."
Genocide in All But Name, for the “Crime” of Being Gay
Seven countries still apply the death penalty against homosexuals. Another 75 criminalize same-sex relations. It’s time to do something about these state-sanctioned acts of hate and destruction.
De Jure Statelessness in the Real World: Applying the Prato Summary Conclusions
Who are the stateless? This paper examines the definition of a stateless person and shows how it could be applied in the real world.
Out in the Cold: Vetting for Nationality in Kenya
In Kenya, secret government edicts ensure that millions face discrimination when they try to secure access to nationality and basic rights. But a new case before the High Court in Mombasa is chipping away at the practice.
Doing the Math on Police Stop-and-Search
The UK Parliament has agreed to drastically cut the police recording of stops and searches. The trouble is the figures behind the decision don't add up.
Children and Statelessness: A Q & A with Sebastian Kohn
Sebastian Kohn of the Open Society Justice Initiative talked about the under-recognized problem of stateless children and the overwhelming importance of ensuring access to the very basic right of nationality.
International Law and the Right to Nationality in Sudan
Among the many critical choices that Sudan is facing in the context of the referendums on the status of South Sudan and Abyei are the criteria that will be established to determine citizenship of the new entities, argues Bronwen Manby of the Open...