‘It Is Time to End Statelessness’ Says Secretary-General, Calling for 10 Million Signatures Supporting United Nations Refugee Agency Campaign

Following is Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message in support of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) campaign to end statelessness in 10 years, in Geneva today:

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that nationality is a basic right of all individuals.  Yet more than 10 million members of the human family are stateless, told they do not belong.

Without nationality, stateless people are often deprived of other basic human rights, such as going to school, getting a job, getting married or registering the birth of a child.  They are sentenced to a life of marginalization and invisibility.

It seems unimaginable that millions of people can be told they don’t exist.  To right this wrong, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has launched an ambitious campaign to end statelessness in 10 years.  UNHCR’s plan of action sets out a clear path to end this injustice.  But UNHCR cannot do it alone; we need champions from every sector.

I encourage people across the world to sign UNHCR’s open letter to end statelessness.  The goal is 10 million signatures to help change 10 million lives.

Sixty years ago, world leaders adopted the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons to address the global challenges of statelessness.  Today, it is time to end statelessness itself.