Topic: Rights of Stateless Persons
Country: Philippines
Delegate Name: Lindsey Allard
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Philippines position papers GLIMUN 2016 committees
There are at least 10 million stateless people worldwide according to the United Nations Refugee Agency. To be stateless means to not have a nationality of a country. Therefore, at least 10 million people are not being protected by basic rights that all humans deserve. United Nations conferences have taken place in 1954 and 1961 concerning the rights of stateless individuals. The 1954 Convention determined the status and basic standards of stateless persons, while the 1961 Convention worked to reduce statelessness. Unfortunately, only 89 of 193 member-states have signed. the Philippines, which has enacted safeguards to protect asylum-seekers and refugees, has adopted only the 1954 Convention. Currently, the stateless population is largely made up of Black Mauritanians, Faili Kurds, stateless Kurds from Syria, Rohingya refugees and unaccounted Palestinians. "The refugees and stateless people are the most vulnerable," Philippine Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said in a statement. "They fall easily through the cracks of our system. Consider the challenge of having no government to safeguard your rights. You have no government that will ensure yours and your family's physical security," she added.
The Philippines welcomes foreigners and became the first country in Southeast Asia to join the 1954 Convention in 2011. Protecting the rights of the stateless, The Philippines operates to determine the number and whereabouts of stateless persons in the country and grant them the fundamental rights of human beings, including citizenship. In 2010, UNHCR worked with the government of the Philippines to promote and develop standards and operational responses to address the situation of stateless people and people at risk of statelessness in the Philippines and in support of efforts for the reduction of statelessness globally. The Philippines’ long history of taking in refugees and stateless people continues. During the time of the advancing imperialist Japanese forces and Word War II, Chinese and Jewish people were given aid when forced to leave their countries. Thousands of Vietnamese people were given shelter after the Vietnam War in the 1970’s. Recently, 3,000 Rohingya "boat people" from Myanmar and Bangladesh were welcomed into the country as well. UNHCR continues to work alongside the government of the Philippines and other stakeholders in upholding a favourable protection environment for refugees and asylum seekers, not only within the Philippine context but also in Asia. "We shall continue to do our share in saving lives under existing and long-standing mechanisms pursuant to our commitments under the convention," said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr.
Signatories of the 1954 and 1961 Conventions are necessary to promote the end of statelessness. It is hopeful that an accession of the Philippines to the 1961 Convention would greatly contribute to the global campaign to end statelessness by 2024. Elimination also starts with prevention. By protecting the equal rights of all children, statelessness can be decreased for the upcoming generations. The main goal is to promote international standards relating to non-discrimination, the right to a nationality and the prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of nationality. United Nations stands alongside the Philippines to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, and to promote better standards of life in larger freedom.
