Topic: Rights of Stateless Persons
Country: Australia
Delegate Name: Riley Wilson
School: Grand Rapids City High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Australia position papers GLIMUN 2016 committees
Statelessness is an issue that impacts millions of people around the globe, though it is an issue that many are unaware of. It is an issue that, sadly, goes dangerously under the radar for a majority of people around the world. A stateless person is defined as "a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law" by the international community. What this essentially means is that those who are stateless are not recognized by their country or government. This makes it near impossible for them to receive the same services that those who are recognized by their government receive. This lack of governmental representation can be dangerous. Those who do not have a state can be subject to discrimination and marginalization. Those stateless are more prone to being victims of human trafficking. They have no political representation and cannot vote. These all add to the dehumanization of millions of stateless people around the globe.
While it is difficult to gain completely accurate data on the amount of stateless persons per country, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that there are over 1.5 million stateless people in the Asia-Pacific alone. We have recognized that there are many in our country who are stateless and have put measures in place to give them legal identification. We recently passed The Migration and Maritime Powers
Legislation Amendment which has provided temporary visas for those who enter the country without legal documentation. We also have a large humanitarian program who focuses on more long term solutions, and has given many stateless people residency in our country. In fact, our Department of Immigration estimates that our program has given residency to over 3000 people through 2009-2014. That being said, we as a country recognized that there is still much to be done. Australia would like to continue its efforts with the Humanitarian Program while also working with the international community on a solution.
Australia would like to show it's support for moves made by this council to increase the rate in which stateless persons are given legal documentation. Australia supports the UN Refugee Agency being given the mandate to identify and protect the stateless, but would want the council gathered to allow individual countries to maintain control of their borders and the programs in which they already have in place to both secure their borders and to provide appropriate paths for citizenship for those who need it.
