GENEVA: The UN said Friday that in the decade since it launched a campaign to end the limbo of statelessness, over half a million people without a nationality had acquired citizenship.
In a report, the United Nations’ refugee agency detailed the progress made since it launched its #IBelong campaign in 2014. Its aim was to mobilize international action to resolve the problem of statelessness.
The UNHCR described statelessness as “a major human rights violation.”
It leaves people politically and economically marginalized, unable to access critical services and particularly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, the agency argued.
Last year, the UNHCR reported that there were 4.4 million stateless people recorded, but that millions more were affected since the data only covers around half of the world’s countries.
The campaign, which ends this year, aimed to address “a largely invisible crisis: that of millions of people around the world living in the shadows, without a nationality, unable to assert their most basic human rights,” said UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi.
While welcoming “significant progress” toward the ambitious goal of ending statelessness, he added “our work is not yet done.”
The report found that “more than 565,900 stateless people and persons with undetermined nationality gained nationality” over the past decade.
Australian actor Cate Blanchett, UNHCR’s goodwill ambassador, said the progress had been “remarkable.”
“Twenty countries have improved rights for stateless people, (and) 13 countries have passed laws to ensure that no child is born stateless,” she said.
“We must make sure that anyone still living without nationality is given the right to be recognized and included.”
UNHCR highlighted the efforts made in several countries, including Turkmenistan, Portugal, North Macedonia, Rwanda, Brazil and Thailand.
Kyrgyzstan has resolved all known cases of statelessness on its territory, the agency added.
It pointed out that 77 more countries had joined the UN Statelessness Conventions, and at least 22 countries had adopted national action plans toward ending statelessness.
“Great strides have been made to remedy this devastating blight, but the need for further action remains critical,” said Ruven Menikdiwela, UNHCR’s assistant high commissioner for protection.
“There are still countless people who do not exist on paper — and hence are pushed to the fringes of society, simply because of ethnic, religious or gender discrimination, or because of flaws in nationality laws and policies,” she said.
While the #IBelong campaign is wrapping up, UNHCR said it would host a high-level meeting on statelessness during its executive committee meeting in Geneva Monday.
It also said it was launching a new “Global Alliance to end Statelessness.”
UN: Half a million stateless people got citizenship in past decade
https://arab.news/mbpzm
UN: Half a million stateless people got citizenship in past decade
- The UNHCR describes statelessness as ‘a major human rights violation’
- Last year, the UNHCR reported that there were 4.4 million stateless people recorded
Anger over Minneapolis shooting probe fuels protests
- Federal immigration officers armed with pepperball guns and tear gas clashed with the noisy crowd
- After he passes in front of the car, another agent can be heard ordering Good to exit the vehicle before she tries to drive off and shots ring out
MINNEAPOLIS: Local officials in Minneapolis slammed federal agencies Friday for excluding them from the probe into an immigration officer’s fatal shooting of a woman, as public outrage grew ahead of planned weekend protests.
Officials in the midwestern state of Minnesota said their law enforcement agencies have been excluded from the investigation into the killing of motorist Renee Good by a federal immigration officer on Wednesday.
A local prosecutor said Friday that federal investigators had taken Good’s car and the shell casings from the scene.
The Trump administration has sought to paint the victim as a “domestic terrorist,” insisting that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent who fatally shot her was acting in self-defense.
Cell phone footage apparently taken by the officer who fired the fatal shots shows him interacting with Good as he approaches and circles her car, and her saying, “I’m not mad at you.”
After he passes in front of the car, another agent can be heard ordering Good to exit the vehicle before she tries to drive off and shots ring out.
The White House insisted the video gave weight to the officer’s claim of self-defense — even though the clip does not show the moment the car moved away, or him opening fire.
“This is not the time to bend the rules. This is a time to follow the law... The fact that Pam Bondi’s Department of Justice and this presidential administration has already come to a conclusion about those facts is deeply concerning,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, told a briefing on Friday.
“We know that they’ve already determined much of the investigation,” he said, adding that the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, within its department of public safety, has consistently run such investigations.
“Why not include them in the process?” Frey said.
On Thursday, US Vice President JD Vance said that the ICE officer, named in US media as Jonathan Ross, had “absolute immunity” — a claim disputed by local prosecutors.
Court filings seen by AFP showed that in June 2025, Ross was dragged 100 yards along a road by a car driven by a man who was the subject of immigration enforcement activity.
“When the FBI, when the federal agencies, say they won’t share evidence with the local authorities, the public can’t trust that it’s going to be a true, transparent investigation,” said local Patrick O’Shaughnessy, 43.
- ‘Get out’ -
Minnesota officials have said that local investigators were initially invited by the FBI to participate in the inquiry into the shooting of Good, but were subsequently blocked from taking part.
Good, 37, was shot in the head as she apparently tried to drive away from ICE in the Midwestern US city as officers approached her car, which they said blocked their way.
Good was one of four people who have been killed by ICE since Trump launched his immigration crackdown.
Good’s wife Becca Good told local media that they had gone to the scene of immigration enforcement activity to “support our neighbors.”
“We had whistles. They had guns,” she said.
Local prosecutor Mary Moriarty, the Hennepin County attorney, said “our goal must be that a thorough investigation is completed at the local level.”
“The FBI currently has, for example, Ms Good’s car, the shell casings and witness interviews.”
Moriarty unveiled an online evidence portal, calling for submissions so that all available leads could be compiled.
She added that she hoped federal authorities would reconsider and “at least” give local detectives access to evidence.
Protest action continued Friday with hundreds gathering at a federal facility that has become a focal point of anti-ICE demonstrations with at least one detention seen.
Federal immigration officers armed with pepperball guns and tear gas clashed with the noisy crowd.
There were some 1,000 weekend protest gatherings planned across the United States, according to organizers.
“You can’t trust anything that (the Trump administration) say, they have their own agenda, and I think they’re drunk on power quite clearly,” said master gardener Kate Netwal, 66.
