What is statelessness?

A person who does not have a nationality or citizenship is stateless. The person does not belong to any country. This could be because the person belongs to minority and has been discriminated against and therefore has no nationality.

You can also become stateless through new countries forming. Palestinians are such an example. There are also countries in the world where women are discriminated against and therefore cannot confer their nationality to their children which results in the child being stateless as well. Statelessness often happens because of formulations in the law where everyone is not included, or because of children not being registered at birth.

Being stateless means that you cannot access things that citizens normally would be able to access. You cannot participate in political elections, you cannot go to school not seek medical help.