STATELESSNESS IN THE MENA REGION

Abstract

Statelessness might seem like a forgotten concept. However, in many legal systems there have been rules and sanctions that leave people without a citizenship, restricting their access to fundamental human rights – education, work and healthcare. In particular, there is a pertaining issue in the region of the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA), where turbulent social, political and religious issues can lead to arbitrary deprivations of the right to Citizenship. For example, concerning the so-called ‘home-grown terrorists’, Israel has been depriving Palestinians of their nationality. The Bidoon in Kuwait have been ravaged during the COVID-19 pandemic due to being common victims of statelessness. Children born in Morocco to stateless refugees do not get Moroccan nationality. The aim of this paper is to examine the international mechanisms for prevention of statelessness.