Impact of Statelessness: Are We Ready to Face?

Abstract

Rise in number of stateless people across the world over the years has manifold implications that have been mostly overlooked. Millions of stateless people around the world, who are least visible but most vulnerable group, pose a threat to social harmony and international security. In a state of growing interdependency among States, impact of statelessness may not be confined within the territory of the State concerned. This paper is an endeavour to find out root causes of statelessness based on scholarly literatures and reports on statelessness and identify probable consequences that may derive from rising number of statelessness considering recent facts of statelessness in some Asian countries. This paper also discusses legal frameworks to address statelessness and response of international community to this issue. Finally, this paper discusses responses required to prevent statelessness and to meet the future challenges of statelessness.