Statelessness
Aside from its mandate on refugees, UNHCR is also the agency mandated by the UN General Assembly to address statelessness.
A stateless person is someone who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law. UNHCR estimates at least 10 million people worldwide are stateless. Statelessness may occur for a variety of reasons, including discrimination against particular ethnic or religious groups or on the basis of gender; the emergence of new States and transfers of territory between existing States (State succession); and conflict of nationality laws.
Whatever the cause, statelessness has serious consequences for people in almost every country and in all regions of the world. Stateless persons often have limited access to a range of rights such as identity documents, employment, education and health services. Statelessness can lead to forced displacement just as forced displacement can lead to statelessness.
Because it is States that set the rules surrounding nationality, UNHCR works with governments, other UN agencies and civil society to address statelessness.
Organisations Working on Statelessness
Development of Human Resources for Rural Areas (DHRRA) Malaysia is a voluntary non-profit and non-political organization working to assist stateless person since 2009. DHRRA helps provide information and legal aid for stateless persons seeking to acquire nationality or documents to prove their nationality.
Development of Human Resources For Rural Areas (DHRRA)
Address: 301 & 302 Block E Kelana Parkview, NO 1, SS 6/2, Kelana Jaya 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Website: http://dhrramalaysia.org.my
Email: general@dhrramalaysia.org.my
Telephone: +603 7887 3371 / +603 7887 7271