In the last two Torn Identity blogs I looked at citizenship and statelessness through the prism of occupation, with Western Sahara as a case study. Recent events in Ukraine, and the earlier occupation of the Crimea and Donbas regions, demonstrate that the use of citizenship as a tool of occupation, through what has been called ‘passportisation’, remains a live issue …
This series started with a blog on the unusual case of a man from Western Sahara, a Sahrawi, begging a French court to treat him as stateless. The applicant argued that the occupying power in parts of Western Sahara – Morocco – imposed Moroccan nationality on him in violation of international law. Was he right? In the second blog in …
This blog is the first in a short series looking at citizenship, statelessness and the law on state occupation. I open the debate with the unusual case of a man from Western Sahara, a Sahrawi, who unsuccessfully begged a French court to treat him as stateless rather than as having Moroccan citizenship. Given the challenges of being stateless, what would …
Sustainable Development Goal 16.9 makes birth registration the focus for improving legal identity for all. Since the adoption of the SDGs, the link between legal identity and the fight to end statelessness has been strengthened. That is why SDG16.9 has come to be about more than birth registration. Rather, it is about the importance of government identification systems and good …
Focusing again on climatic statelessness Over the last couple of years I have been blogging about climatic statelessness. Climatic statelessness is not yet a firmed-up concept, more a way to think about what happens, in reality and under international law, when a state no longer exists as a result of the effects of climate change. How might we strengthen legal …
This blog is part of a series examining climatic statelessness and the impact of slow onset climate change and extreme events on small island states and communities. Immediate action is needed to protect small island states from loss of their land and therefore their statehood, their identity and their lives. Adaption is crucial to ensure that these communities are not …
Nearly 18 months on from the start of the pandemic, a lot has changed. We (well, some of us) have access to vaccines, ventilators, oxygen and even funding to support those who have suffered loss of earnings. But many countries have struggled to provide the healthcare and financial support their residents and citizens need. Equally, rolling out the vaccine has …
I previously wrote about two marginalised communities in Kenya, the Nubian and the Somali communities, and their struggle to obtain legal status and citizenship. Both communities face burdens not imposed on most other Kenyans. But they are not alone in campaigning for recognition as citizens of Kenya. In this blog I reflect on the recent progress made by the Shona …
In this blog I come back to the issue of discriminatory nationality laws as they affect women and their children, causing an increased risk of statelessness. I wrote previously about the impact of such laws in Nepal and Iran, although they are not the only states who still have discriminatory nationality laws. There has been some progress recently in states …
As we get closer to COP26 in Glasgow this November and following on from the Climate and Development Ministerial on 31 March 2021, I want to come back to an issue I discussed in a series of blogs last year: statelessness caused by the impact of climate change. One way to look at citizenship is as the connection between a …
