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Imagine that the place where you are born
does not consider you a citizen- and nowhere else will take you in.
That's what statelessness is, and the United Nations
estimates that as many as 12 million people worldwide
currently have no country to call home.
Discrimination against minority groups,
conflicts of laws between states, and failing
to include all a country's citizens in national records are all to blame,
Stateless people often can't get identity documents or jobs, and
are frequently denied access to education and health services.
Erika Feller is the Assistant High Commissioner for Protection
at the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR.
"Nationality is also lost through state succession when
one state succeeds another or a state breaks up.
An obvious example is Sudan- that has left large pockets
of people without claim to a nationality in the countries
which they found themselves suddenly residents of".
Yet- says the United Nations, this problem
can be prevented- universal birth registration, and improving
nationality legislation can all help- making sure that all citizens can
participate fully in their countries and communities.
For more UN videos visit: www.un.org/webcast