A study on statelessness and the risks of statelessness in Namibia
Published: 1/Mar/2021
Source: Legal Assistance Centre, Windhoek (with support of UNHCR and Government of Namibia)
Introduction
Statelessness refers to the condition of an individual who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law.1 Statelessness has a dramatic impact on the enjoyment of human rights, civic participation, and the development of concerned societies/states. It also raises serious development and security concerns. The Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security has developed a National Action Plan on the Eradication of Statelessness and submitted substantial pledges at the High-Level Segment (HLS) on Statelessness, at the UNHCR Executive Committee in October 2019, and at the Global Refugee Forum, in
December 2019. Namibia specifically submitted a pledge in October 2019 at the HLS on Statelessness, committing to collecting data on statelessness.
UNHCR estimates that there are 10 million stateless persons in the world and there is no data available for Southern Africa, nor for Namibia. There is no data on statelessness in the region because States have not established mechanisms to capture such data, and therefore they do not provide statistics.2 Similarly, no country of the region has a domestic procedure to identify and determine the status of an individual as a stateless person.
Furthermore, Namibia has committed for a memorandum of accession of both the 1954 Convention Related to the Status of Stateless Persons and on the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and has appointed an official Government Focal Point for Statelessness in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security (MHAISS). Namibia has decided to grant citizenship by naturalisation to people who have been, living in Namibia between 1930 and 1977. Significantly Namibia has naturalised 4, 309 individuals.
It is against this background that an expression of interest was tendered by a team of experienced researchers and legal experts to conduct a study on Statelessness and Risks of Statelessness in Namibia. Statelessness in Namibia affects in situ stateless persons and migrant stateless persons. There are no statistics available on
statelessness in the region because most States have not yet established procedures to capture data on statelessness.
The main objective of this study was to determine or estimate the number of stateless people living in Namibia as well as their geographical spread, and in doing so to estimate the scale and magnitude of the problem. Included in this process was to examine the demographic composition of the people affected, by investigating their characteristics and situations. This included a gender and age breakdown of the affected population and their level of access to basic services. Further the study aimed to expose the causes of statelessness and the contributing factors leading to statelessness in Namibia, as well as establish an understanding of the obstacles to solutions.
The study further aimed to capture and analyse any relevant data related to these obstacles as well as, advocate for law reform and eventually ensure that a mechanism to identify and determine statelessness is established.
Download: https://www.lac.org.na/projects/sjp/Pdf/statelessness_report.pdf