Stateless person
Short answer
A stateless person is not considered a national by any state under the operation of its law. Statelessness can exist with or without displacement, and it blocks access to documentation, schooling, healthcare, lawful work and travel in most countries.
The wording it comes from
A person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law.
Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, 1954, Article 1
In plain terms
- Statelessness is about the absence of nationality, not about location, so a stateless person may never have moved.
- It commonly arises from gaps between nationality laws, discrimination in those laws, and state succession.
- Because stateless people are frequently undocumented, they are among the hardest populations to count.
Commonly confused with
Refugee
A refugee may hold a nationality but cannot rely on that state for protection. A stateless person holds no nationality at all. A person can be both.
Why the distinction matters
- Without nationality, ordinary administrative life becomes inaccessible, from birth registration onwards.
- Statelessness passes between generations when children cannot inherit or acquire a nationality.
- Reported figures are widely understood to be undercounts, and should be read as minimums.