Topic: Rights of Stateless Persons
Country: Iraq
Delegate Name: Jen Parker
School: Mattawan High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Iraq position papers GLIMUN 2016 committees
Iraq acknowledges our issue of stateless persons, and the Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration has expressed its commitment towards resolving the issue. In 2006, the vast majority of Faili Kurds who remained in or returned to Iraq (since the 1980 decree) have had their nationality reinstated. In addition, Iraq has hosted and assisted refugees of Palestinian, Iranian, Turkish, and Syrian origin. Both of these actions show Iraq’s efforts to resolve the issue.
The underlying theme in Iraq’s situation of statelessness is Ethnic and racial discrimination. This leads to exclusion, where political will is lacking to resolve the problem (Iraq’s decree in nineteen eighty where Iraq’s former President Saddam Hussein stripped the Faili Kurds of their Iraqi citizenship in one day). With this in mind, ethnic and racial discrimination must be considered in the resolution. This is an issue that calls for an immediate action, because the consequences of being stateless are considerable. Stateless persons, without nationality, are incapable of exercising their most fundamental rights. At a national level, stateless persons have no definite legal status, no clearly defined rights and are at the mercy of the administrative authorities. Stateless persons are often denied basic rights and access to employment, housing, education, health care and pensions. They may not be able to own property, open a bank account, get married legally or register the birth of a child. Some face long periods of detention because they cannot prove who they are or where they are from.
