Stateless

Statelessness in West Africa: An Assessment of Stateless Populations and Legal, Policy, and Administrative Frameworks in Ghana

Drawing on qualitative interviews that are complemented by the analysis of government policy documents, this study examines statelessness in Ghana. It addresses a range of policy, legal, institutional, administrative, and other politico-socioeconomic matters attendant to the concept. The study defines statelessness in its strict legal sense. It recognizes populations at risk of statelessness that may be restricted from benefiting from the protection and privileges of their host state. Persons identified by the study as stateless or at risk of statelessness include persons from traditionally nomadic migratory communities, former refugees, persons residing in border communities, members of Zongo communities, trafficked persons, and those affected by gaps in previous constitutions. The study also identifies the consequences of statelessness, including lack of access to healthcare, education, justice, and work. The study offers several recommendations to prevent and reduce statelessness in Ghana.

Statelessness in the United States: A Study to Estimate and Profile the US Stateless Population

This report describes a unique methodology to produce estimates and set forth the characteristics of US residents who are potentially stateless or potentially at risk of statelessness. It also lifts up the voices and challenges of stateless persons, and outlines steps to reduce statelessness and to safeguard the rights of stateless persons in the United States.

As part of the study, CMS developed extensive, well-documented profiles of non-US citizen residents who are potentially stateless or potentially at risk of statelessness. It then used these profiles to query American Community Survey data in order to develop provisional estimates and determine the characteristics of these populations.

Center for Migration Studies to Release New Study on the Challenges Facing Stateless Persons

New York, NY – On Thursday, January 23 the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) will release a report on statelessness in the United States; that is persons living in the United States who do not have nationality...

Statelessness in the Caribbean: The Paradox of Belonging in a Postnational World

Tendayi Bloom of The Open University reviews Statelessness in the Caribbean: The Paradox of Belonging in a Postnational World by Kristy A. Belton. Kristy A. Belton argues for the reconceptualization of statelessness as a form of forced displacement by drawing on an...

The Needless Detention of Immigrants in the United States: Why Are We Locking Up Asylum-Seekers, Children, Stateless Persons, Long-Term Permanent Residents, and Petty Offenders?

This report contributes to the extensive literature on the suffering caused by the US immigration detention system, with a focus on the government’s failure to pursue alternatives to detention for persons that need not and should not be detained. It...

JMHS Special Collection | The US Refugee Protection System on the 35th Anniversary of the Refugee Act of 1980

The Center for Migration Studies (CMS) released, The US Refugee Protection System on the 35th Anniversary of the RefugeeAct of 1980: A Comprehensive Assessment of the System’s Strengths, Limitations,and Need for Reform, a special edition of CMS’s Journal on Migration and Human Security (JMHS). Authored by leading experts, the collection of 11 papers offers an exhaustive assessment and critique of the US refugee protection system, covering refugees, asylum seekers and refugee-like populations in need of protection. The series attempts to bring concentrated academic and policy attention to this pillar of US immigration and humanitarian programs and the broader international refugee protection system. The papers cover access to protection, refugee resettlement, political asylum, temporary protection, the stateless, migrants in crisis situations, unaccompanied minors, and other populations at risk.

Unmaking Citizens: The Expansion of Citizenship Revocation in Response to Terrorism

Introduction “They hold us in contempt. They hold our values in contempt. They hold our belief in tolerance and decency in contempt. They hold our democracy, the means by which we will make our decision tonight, in contempt. And what...

Elusive Jannah: The Somali Diaspora and a Borderless Muslim Identity

Beatrice Akua-Sakyiwah reviews Elusive Jannah: The Somali Diaspora and a Borderless Muslim Identity, by Cawo Abdi. The book presents the sociopolitical, economic, cultural, and religious issues faced by Somalis in three locations: the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, and the United...

The Palestinian Impasse in Lebanon: The Politics of Refugee Integration

Joseph Chamie, Director of the United Nations Population Division, reviews The Palestinian Impasse in Lebanon: The Politics of Refugee Integration, by Simon Haddad. The book is about the attitudes of Palestinian refugees and Lebanese towards each other, and whether resettlement...

The Intersection of Statelessness and Refugee Protection in US Asylum Policy

Stateless persons face gaps in protection and in many cases experience persecution that falls within the refugee paradigm. However, US asylum policy does not adequately address the myriad legal problems that confront the stateless, who have been largely invisible in the jurisprudence and academic literature. This article analyzes two federal appellate court opinions that shed new light on the intersection of statelessness and refugee law in the United States. It makes recommendations for developing legislative, regulatory and other policy guidance concerning statelessness claims.