4.4m people stateless worldwide, says UN

GENEVA: The UN said on Saturday that 4.4 million people worldwide were known to be stateless, though the true figure would be significantly higher due to their relative “invisibility”.

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said statelessness had a “devastating impact” on those left without a nationality, as it called for more to be done to combat such exclusion.

Not recognised as citizens of any country, stateless people are often deprived of human rights and access to basic services, often leaving them politically and economically marginalised and vulnerable to discrimination, exploitation and abuse, the UNHCR said.

“At least 4.4 million people in 95 countries are reported to be stateless or of undetermined nationality,” the agency said in a statement.

It said that in 2023, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Mold­ova, North Macedonia, Portugal and Tanzania had taken important steps forward on statelessness, while the Republic of Congo had become the latest country to accede to the Statelessness Conven­tions.