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Stateless in World: 'We are no people with no nation'

At least 10 million people globally do not have citizenship of any country, according to the UN. Without nationality, stateless people cannot vote and can find it difficult or impossible to gain access to healthcare, education and employment.

 

 

In addition, because some 27 States around the world do not allow women to transfer nationality to their children, statelessness can occur where fathers are unknown, missing or deceased. Areas that have experienced large-scale displacement have also been significantly affected by statelessness.

In West Africa, the estimated stateless population in Côte d’Ivoire is 700,000, many of whom were migrants of Burkinabé descent who were not eligible for Ivorian nationality after the country’s independence from France in 1960. Statelessness due to the dissolution of former states also continues to affect many people, including some 600,000 people in Europe alone.

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