How does statelessness affect the ‘right to health’ An examination of the stateless Rohingya in Rakhine State, Myanmar

Introduction:

At present there are over 10 million people worldwide who are not recognised as citizens of any country, although the true number of stateless persons is likely to be significantly higher.

This precarious situation is commonly referred to as statelessness. Confusion surrounding precise figures of statelessness are due to problems with mapping the issue, accruing accurate evidence, and remedying gaps in data. The international legal definition of statelessness is set out in Article 1 of the 1954 Convention that defines a stateless individual as a person “not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law”. This definition describes a certain type of statelessness characterised by the formal, legal lack of a nationality commonly known as de jure statelessness. There have been two legal instruments created by the United Nations (UN), in the form of conventions, which have sought to both protect stateless individuals, and prevent levels of statelessness from proliferating throughout the world. The first was the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, to which there are now 80 signatories. The second was the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of statelessness, which today has 55 countries endorsing its recommendations.