UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ UNHCR campaign to end statelessness © UNHCR
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) welcomes Iceland’s accession to the United Nations Citizenship Convention, the main international treaty to combat statelessness.
“We welcome the accession of Iceland, which brings the world one step closer to ending citizenship,” said Pascale Moreau, Director-General of the UNHCR Regional Office for Europe.
Europe has more than 500,000 stateless persons. The total number of stateless persons worldwide is still unknown. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports about 4.2 million stateless persons in 79 countries worldwide based on available data, but the actual number is estimated to be much higher.
Iceland acceded to the 1954 Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness on 26 January; both will enter into force in the country on April 26, 2021. Iceland’s accession follows many important steps that the country has taken in recent years to harmonize national laws with both conventions in terms of preventing, identifying and reducing statelessness. and protect stateless persons. individuals.
Iceland’s accession to the 1954 and 1961 treaties brings the total number of member states to these instruments to 95 and 76, respectively.
As 60 years have passed since the 1961 agreement this year, the Refugee Agency hopes that more countries will follow Iceland’s example and become a party to the UN citizenship agreements this year.
In 2014, UNHCR, launched internationally # I belong Campaign to End Citizenship by 2024. Since then, 12 states have acceded to the 1954 Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons and 15 have acceded to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.
For more information, please contact:
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter