statelessness

Statelessness refers to the condition of lacking a nationality, rendering individuals without the legal rights and protections afforded to citizens. Recent news highlights two critical areas contributing to this issue. In Myanmar, the systematic stripping of citizenship from the Rohingya minority has led to their mass expulsion and accusations of genocide, illustrating how state policies can deliberately create stateless populations. Concurrently, the increasing use of overseas surrogacy arrangements is raising concerns about babies being born stateless. This is partly due to the suspension of international efforts to regulate surrogacy, leaving legal gaps that can result in children not being recognized by any country. These developments underscore the urgent global relevance of statelessness, as it leaves vulnerable individuals, including entire ethnic groups and newborns, without legal identity, access to essential services, and protection from persecution and exploitation.