Press Releases

UNHCR Kazakhstan marks 50th anniversary of 1961 Convention On Reduction of Statelessness

Almaty, 30 August 2011 - Today the 1961 Convention on Reduction of Statelessness enters its 50th years. Statelessness remains a complex issue in many countries of the world. UNHCR estimates that there are up to 12 million stateless people in the world, but defining exact numbers is hugely problematic. Inconsistent reporting combined with different definitions of statelessness means the true scale of the problem remains elusive. To overcome this UNHCR is raising awareness about the international legal definition while improving its own methods for gathering data on stateless populations.

"The issue of statelessness is a painful challenge for States but especially for the stateless people themselves. They are deprived from the basic right of having a defined and recognized nationality. They do not have access to education, health care, job market and ability to travel. Children of stateless people can not attend school or benefit from proper juvenile care. On the territory of the former USSR, they are usually holders of old Soviet passports, who did not claim their nationality for various reasons after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The first step to reduce the number of stateless people is registration of undocumented persons in a country. In this regards I would like to stress that the recently conducted registration in Turkmenistan is an excellent example to follow as it will allow, among other very positive results, several thousand of stateless people to obtain citizenship" - underlined Mr. Saber Azam, UNHCR Regional Representative/Regional Coordinator for Central Asia.

As of August 25, only 66 states are parties to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, which defines who is considered to be a "stateless person" and establishes minimum standards of treatment. Only 38 states are parties to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, which provides principles and a legal framework to help states prevent statelessness. The total number of UN member states is 193.