InfoAnda - Invisible millions pay price of statelessness |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

At least 10 killed as China bus falls off hillside | 29 October 2009
New Afghan elections chief sworn in | 22 April 2010
John Mayer apologizes for raw Playboy interview | | 11 February 2010

Chinese envoy arrives in Taiwan for trade talks | 21 December 2009

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Invisible millions pay price of statelessness |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Green Business Legal Deals Earnings Summits Business Video Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia Afghan Journal Africa Journal India Insight Global News Journal Pakistan: Now or Never? World Video Politics Politics Home Front Row Washington Politics Video Technology Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland Felix Salmon Breakingviews George Chen Bernd Debusmann Gregg Easterbrook James Pethokoukis James Saft John Wasik Christopher Whalen Ian Bremmer Mohamed El-Erian Lawrence Summers The Great Debate Unstructured Finance Newsmaker MuniLand Money Money Home Analyst Research Global Investing MuniLand Reuters Money Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Life & Culture Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Left Field Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Article Comments (0) Slideshow Alertnet The world's most invisible people Rejected by the countries they call home and denied the most basic of rights, stateless people live in a shadowy limbo -- in the words of one such person, like being "between the earth and the sky". Learn More Invisible millions pay price of statelessness Nepal's children risk statelessness Video: Colonialism renders Nubians stateless Factbox: Stateless groups around the world Video: No rights for Rohingyas Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Apple suppliers building cheaper, 8GB iPhone 4 7:22am EDT Exclusive: Apple suppliers building cheaper, 8GB iPhone 4:42am EDT UPDATE 1-Powerful Hurricane Irene churns toward southeast US 10:24am EDT Oil up on equities rise, China and German data | 11:45am EDT Libya rebels enter Gaddafi house: report | 11:42am EDT Discussed 259 GM says bankruptcy excuses it from Impala repairs 244 UPDATE 3-White House denounces Perry as Republicans target Fed 154 Obama accuses Congress of holding back U.S. recovery Watched Una Healy got naked on holiday Sat, Aug 20 2011 Lockheed Martin presents airship of the future Thu, Aug 18 2011 Buenos Aires Fashion week sizzles Mon, Aug 22 2011 Invisible millions pay price of statelessness Tweet Share this Email Print Factbox Stateless groups around the world 9:00am EDT Related News Millions of Nepal's children risk statelessness: U.N. 9:00am EDT Bedouns suffer uncertain fate in Kuwait 9:00am EDT Analysis & Opinion Top ten myths about the Libya war The parents: the force that can’t be beat Related Topics World » Lifestyle » United Nations » AlertNet » 1 of 20. A Rohingya boy bathes in a common bath place in a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, in this file picture taken August 19, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Andrew Biraj By Emma Batha Tue Aug 23, 2011 9:00am EDT LONDON, Aug 23 (AlertNet) - Rejected by the countries they call home and denied the most basic of rights, stateless people live in a shadowy limbo -- in the words of one such person, like being "between the earth and the sky." Up to 15 million people are stateless, not recognized as nationals by any country. They are some of the most invisible people on the planet -- an anonymity the United Nations hopes to lift when it launches an international campaign on Thursday to highlight their plight. "One of the big problems we have is that this simply is not recognized as being a major issue globally," said Mark Manly, head of the stateless unit at the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR. "In the media there's very little discussion, in universities there's very little research and in the U.N., until relatively recently, there hasn't been a lot of discussion either, so the effect of all that is that we still have major gaps in our knowledge," Manly told AlertNet (www.trust.org/alertnet), a humanitarian news service run by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Statelessness exacerbates poverty, creates social tensions, breaks up families and destroys children's futures. In some cases it can even fuel wars when disenfranchised people pick up weapons, as has happened in Ivory Coast and Democratic Republic of Congo. Yet only 38 countries have signed the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness which marks its 50th anniversary on August 30. One of the largest stateless groups is the Rohingyas, a Muslim people of South Asian descent refused citizenship by the Myanmar government. Hundreds of thousands are scattered throughout Bangladesh and Southeast Asia. "There are no countries in this world for Rohingyas," said Kyaw Myint, 44, now living in Malaysia. "Even animals can have peace of mind, but for the Rohingyas, because we are stateless, there is no peace of mind." The effects vary by country, but typically stateless people are barred from education, healthcare and formal employment. They often can't start a business, own property, hold a driving license or open a bank account. They can't get married legally or travel abroad to work or visit family. And they can't vote, which means they can't elect politicians who might be able to improve their lot. Being stateless is like being "between the earth and the sky," said Mohamed Alenezi, a bedoun from Kuwait. "You are here and not here," added Alenezi, 42, who now lives in London. Like many bedouns (stateless Arabs) he is the descendant of nomadic Bedouin tribes which for centuries roamed freely across what is now Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan and Iraq. CHILDREN Probing the origins of statelessness is a lesson in world history and geography. In many cases groups failed to be included when their countries became independent or drew up a new constitution. Many Kuwaiti bedouns fell through the cracks when the country became independent in 1961, and the Roma in Europe have faced major problems in obtaining citizenship in the new countries that emerged after the break-up of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. Manly said the UNHCR is closely watching the succession of South Sudan. It is also scrutinizing the drafting of Nepal's new constitution amid fears millions could end up stateless. A major factor behind statelessness is often racial or ethnic discrimination. Syria, for example, denationalized many Kurds in 1962 and Mauritania expelled around 75,000 Black Mauritanians in 1989. Stateless people are vulnerable to exploitation, including slavery and prostitution, and risk arbitrary detention. Their lack of identity can make accessing legal help impossible -- no one knows how many stateless people are locked up worldwide. Among the biggest sufferers are children. Open Society Foundations, the George Soros initiative which among other things tries to improve the lives of marginalized people, estimates around 5 million children globally are stateless, often simply because their parents are. The 1961 convention stipulates signatories must grant nationality to a person born in their territory who would otherwise be stateless. Experts say this is key to resolving the problem. "This is really a crucial principle that needs to be realized if you want to break the cycle of statelessness," said Sebastian Kohn, Open Society's expert on statelessness. "It doesn't mean giving nationality to everyone born on your territory. It's just about giving nationality to stateless persons born on your territory." Kohn also urged governments to abolish citizenship laws which discriminate against women -- another big cause of statelessness. In at least 30 countries, mothers cannot pass nationality to their children. If the father is stateless, foreign or absent, the child usually ends up stateless. SOME HOPE There have been some successes. For example, Sri Lanka has amended laws to allow Hill Tamils, descendants of immigrants from India, to obtain nationality. Ukraine has reintegrated Crimean Tartars deported to Central Asia under Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. And experts believe awareness is growing. "I think states are actually starting to recognize that there is a potential overlap between statelessness and national security issues," Kohn said. "Obviously, if you disenfranchise people, that can lead to all sorts of social and potentially security issues, and in the worst cases civil war." In December the UNHCR will host a ministerial-level meeting where countries will be asked to join the 1961 convention and make pledges to address specific concerns on their territory. "It's an issue whose time has come," said Maureen Lynch, a consultant to the International Observatory on Statelessness. (AlertNet is a global humanitarian news service run by Thomson Reuters Foundation. Visit www.trust.org/alertnet) (Additional reporting by Thin Lei Win; Editing by Rebekah Curtis and Sonya Hepinstall) World Lifestyle United Nations AlertNet Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Social Stream (What's this?) Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Mobile Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Contact Us Advertise With Us Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS About Privacy Policy Terms of Use Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Fight for Gaddafi compound will be hard: rebels |
Analysis: After Libya, eyes turn to Syrian revolt |
Muslim rebels in Philippines offered wider autonomy at start of peace talks
Ford, Toyota team up on hybrid systems for trucks and SUVs
Yemen politician dies of wounds from attack on Saleh |
HP unveils new desktop, vows continued PC support
Justin Bieber releases "Director's Fan Cut" of "Never Say Never" exclusively to Target
Russian mayor killed after alleging corruption |
Gaza militants to stop rocket attacks, Israel holds large-scale offensive
Jimmy Fallon to return to 'SNL' as host in December
PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs: what are they really?
Irene to become a Category 3 storm as it approaches Florida coast
Trinidad declares state of emergency to fight crime |
Wing walker plummets to his death at Michigan air show
Most online consumers only clicks away from digital disaster
Ukraine says thwarts holiday terrorist bomb |
S&P upgrades Google stock days after sell view |
HP unveils new PC days after saying it exits unit |
Skype confirms pact to buy GroupMe |
Analysis: Google/Motorola could be peak of patent price spike |
Some of WikiLeaks' Bank of America data destroyed |
Groupon's Mason to tie the knot right after planned IPO |
Ghost musical to appear on Broadway |
Lil Wayne sets Tha Carter IV release after VMAs |
U2 singer Bono denies reports of health scare |
Reality star Kim Kardashian weds Kris Humphries |
Son rallies loyalists for Gaddafi's Tripoli fightback |
Paleteria La Super Issues Allergy Alert on Undeclared Walnuts, Milk and Coconut in Their Nut, Esquimal , and Pina Colada Ice Cream Popsicles
China urges Libya to protect investments |
Raiders take ex-Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor in supplemental draft
Japan PM on way out, leadership race wide open |
Three refugees killed as Somali troops said to hijack food aid
The Ultimate Fighter goes lighter: Season 14's Featherweight, Bantamweight casts revealed
Denise Richards turns down Two and a Half Men guest spot
Readers Face Multiple Dilemmas About Insurance Coverage, Costs
"The Glee Project" announces winners
Workers Squeezed As Employers Pass Along High Costs Of Specialty Drugs
Kim Kardashian's Wedding Band Performs Pitbull song in front of Lindsay Lohan
Josh Tomlin, Indian starters keeping Tribe in thick of sizzling pennant race
Costa Rica nabs man sought on Texas child abuse charge |
U.S. concerned about Vietnam detention of protesters |
India PM calls all-party meet on anti-graft protests |
Irene strengthens to Category 2 hurricane |
Seoul must change to trustpolitik with North, says Park |
Syrian forces shoot three during U.N. visit: activists |
U.N. says 600 die in South Sudan clashes |
Microsoft partners with China firm on cloud-computing |
MP3tunes wins end to part of EMI copyright case |
Redemption clock for eHarmony is ticking |
Malware targeting Android devices jumped in Q2: McAfee |
Jackson fans say tribute concert doomed to fai' |
David Letterman jokes about militant death threat |
Hound Dog songwriter Jerry Leiber dies at 78 |
Songwriter Nickolas Ashford dies at age 70 |
Blast at Russian ammunition depot kills six |
Gaddafi son affair surmountable blow for rebels |
Researchers report breakthrough in ALS cause
U.N. nuclear watchdog visits Iran sites: report |
Study: Marriage boosts survival after heart surgery
Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith reportedly separating
2011 the year of billion-dollar disasters
UN rights body urges Syria to halt military crackdown
China rail firm boss, blamed for crash, dies of heart attack |
Libyan colonel discloses Gaddafi's Tunisian attack plot
Special report: In Libya, the cellphone as weapon |
Delinquent debt on the rise for the largest and smallest companies
Greece forecasts economic contraction to be worse than expected
Rebels control most of Tripoli, Gaddafi in Libya: U.S. |
Injuries are Giant concern as season approaches
Browns lock up All-Pro tackle Joe Thomas with seven year extension
Afghanistan fights population growth with birth control |
Invisible millions pay price of statelessness |
Exclusive: Apple suppliers building cheaper, 8GB iPhone |
China Telecom says still in talks with Apple on iPhone |
Nintendo jumps on talk of 3DS add-on, revamp |
Universal Display to license OLED technology to Samsung unit |
Special report: In Libya, the cellphone as weapon |
No illegal drugs in Winehouse toxicology report |
Paul Rudd is nobody's Idiot Brother |
Mad Men inspires look back for new TV hits |
George Michael returns to stage, announces split |
Jackson fans say tribute concert doomed to fail |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01