This article has been written by Mr. P. Rohit a 3rd year student of Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University, Visakhapatnam.
ABSTRACT
Although several declarations and agreements have established international human rights, these rights are not always upheld. International human rights standards are broken when national governments deny citizenship to a certain group of people.
Three options exist for NGOs to contribute to the enforcement of human rights standards: first, by using their legal personnel to influence national legal systems to guarantee the granting of rights like citizenship. Second, in order to exert pressure on national governments to act, NGOs might draw public attention to abuses of human rights. Third, in order to exert pressure on the violating country, international institutions like the UN might be made aware of the human rights breaches.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been essential to the creation, application, and public awareness of international human rights legislation. Even though countries that are part of the UN have agreed to these regulations, some opt to ignore them in particular circumstances or are unable to implement them at all. Human rights organizations are frequently used by the international community to intervene in these situations, speaking up on behalf of people or groups to draw attention to their condition from both the public and government. Because organizations have been instrumental in the formulation, advancement, and implementation of international rights law, it is distinct from other legal fields.
INTRODUCTION
Millions of individuals worldwide suffer from statelessness, which is the state of not having any government recognize you as a national. This position puts you in a legal limbo and denies you essential human rights. Non-governmental organizations are essential in tackling this complicated problem and promoting citizenship rights. NGOs help people who are stateless navigate complicated legal processes and assert their right to nationality by offering legal aid. This include appearing in court, submitting applications, and protesting unfair treatment.
Organizations take up discriminatory laws and practices that cause or prolong statelessness by strategically suing against them. This affects larger change and establishes legal precedents. NGOs help community groups, attorneys, and other stakeholders identify, assist, and represent stateless people by offering training and capacity building. NGOs provide stateless groups the power to speak up for their own rights and take part in decision-making processes. As part of this, community-led research, documentation, and negotiations are supported. In order to exchange knowledge, skills, and resources, NGOs develop networks and collaborations with other NGOs, UN agencies, and academic institutes. This promotes cooperation and fortifies group activity.
NGOs are essential in combating statelessness and promoting citizenship rights, despite some obstacles. They help stateless people directly, spread awareness, shape public policy, and strengthen communities. Their vital effort must be supported and collaborated upon in order to guarantee everyone’s right to belong.
WHAT IS AN NGO?
The terms non-governmental and non-profit are commonly used to describe the diverse range of groups that make up civil society. The fact that these organizations aim for anything other than financial gain sets them apart. There are several varieties of NGOs. Small advocacy groups addressing issues such as environmental degradation or human rights violations can be among them, as can charitable organizations that promote education, , cultural associations, religious institutions, legal foundations, and relief programs.
STATELESSNESS (Causes and Consequences)
According to legal definitions, statelessness refers to a single, homogeneous group of persons who all have the same characteristic that is, they lack any kind of citizenship. “The term “stateless person” means a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law,” according to the Statelessness Convention.
Stateless people are “amorphous” because there are many ways for someone to become stateless, including through the operation of the law, official action, or inactivity. The Statelessness Convention and Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness eventually concentrate on persons who are de jure stateless, despite the early drafters’ concerns about whether to include de facto statelessness in the concept of statelessness.
Statelessness can result from a variety of factors, such as prejudice based on a person’s gender, colour, ethnicity, or religion or language, holes in the laws pertaining to nationality, State succession, administrative roadblocks to acquisition, and absence of birth certificate and nationality evidence. Legislative gaps that may result in Statelessness can also result from nationality rules that do not provide necessary protections to stop statelessness in children. If a territory is transferred from one State to another, a new State is formed from the territory of another, or two or more States form from the dissolution of another, and the nationality laws of the emerging entities do not recognize all people residing on the territory as nationals, then entire populations may find themselves stateless in the context of State succession.
Being stateless can have extremely crippling effects. People who are stateless frequently lack access to basic services like opening a bank account, as well as human rights including freedom of movement, political participation, and ownership of property, healthcare, education, and work. They are also more vulnerable to trafficking, arbitrary incarceration, and abuse and exploitation. People who are stateless may have challenges and marginalization for the rest of their lives, which limits their ability to fully engage in society. This might have an effect on those who are stateless as well as society at large since intergenerational statelessness can result in groups that are marginalized and alienated, which can exacerbate social tensions and raise the risk of war.
THE FUNCTION OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN ADDRESSING THE PROBLEMS
Non-governmental groups have the ability to engage in the protection of human rights at various stages or levels. Their strategies will vary according to the nature of their objectives specificity or universality, length or urgency, reach on a local, national, regional, or international scale, and so on.
Personal assistance:
Such services might be protection, training to acquire new skills, or humanitarian support. As an alternative, in cases where the right is legally protected, they could include information on how to make claims or legal advocacy. Nonetheless, providing the victim with direct aid is frequently not the greatest use of an organization’s resources. When this happens, which is most likely the case in most situations, NGOs must adopt a longer-term perspective and consider other solutions for either making up for the violation or stopping it from happening again.
Obtaining Precise Data:
The concept of trying to “show up” the people who are doing injustices may be the primary tactic behind the many NGO activism models. Since most people are unaware of the effects of their actions, governments are frequently able to avoid upholding their duties under international treaties to which they have committed. NGOs commonly employ this kind of data collection and utilization to encourage openness in governments’ rights records, which is crucial for keeping them liable. They choose a problem that will appeal to people’s feeling of injustice and then make it public in an effort to put pressure on governments.
NGOs frequently carry out studies to compile information on statelessness, including the demographics of those impacted and its underlying reasons. Having this knowledge is crucial for creating interventions and policies that effectively address the problem. NGOs frequently work along with other stakeholders, governments, and intergovernmental organizations. Creating alliances and networks increases their combined effect in combating statelessness.
Campaigning& lobbying:
To alter policy, international players frequently take part in lobbying and campaigning. There exist several forms, and an NGO will endeavor to select the most fitting one, considering its goals, the characteristics of its “target,” and naturally, its own accessible resources. Other NGOs have had significant success using letter-writing campaigns as a strategy. Letters from members of these organizations all across the world “bombard” government authorities. Street protests and activities, with the associated media attention, can be employed by organizations seeking public support or raising awareness of a cause in an effort to “name and shame” a government.
To provide an NGO’s viewpoint on the actual state of rights enjoyment in a certain nation, shadow reports are presented to UN human rights monitoring organizations. Officials may hold private discussions or briefings. As demonstrated by the narrative below, there are instances when changing a policy or practice just requires the threat of bringing it to the attention of the public. The more support a campaign gets from the general public or other influential people, the more likely it is to succeed. Even if they don’t always use direct assistance, NGOs can ensure that their message is understood by bringing up the possibility of a large-scale public movement being formed against one or more regimes.
Education and knowledge of human rights:
Public awareness and education campaigns are another common activity of human rights non-governmental organizations. Non-governmental groups usually seek to raise public awareness of human rights issues, knowing that the public is their main source of financing. More respect will probably be inspired by learning more about these issues and the solutions available, which will increase the likelihood of organizing support for particular instances of violations of human rights. That support, or the potential for it, is the cornerstone of the NGO community’s capacity to successfully improve the human rights environment.
NGOs work to increase public knowledge of statelessness, including its origins and effects. They take part in advocacy campaigns to raise awareness of the problem on a global and national scale. NGOs strive to create political will and support for addressing the issue by drawing attention to the suffering of stateless people.
International Advocacy & Humanitarian Assistance: NGOs may offer humanitarian aid, including access to healthcare, education, and other vital services, to stateless people who are in danger or have been relocated. NGOs work with regional and international institutions, including the United Nations, to promote international norms and collaboration in the fight against statelessness. This include giving presentations at conferences, turning in reports, and helping to create global frameworks.
LEADING ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE WORKING TOWARDS ERADICATING STATELESSNESS
UNHCR: The UN Refugee Agency is essential in defending the rights of stateless people and advocating for international action to eradicate statelessness. Statelessness is mostly caused by gaps in nationality legislation, according to UNHCR. Every nation has laws that specify the conditions under which a person can obtain nationality or have it revoked. A few persons may be left stateless and excluded if these rules are not properly drafted and implemented. It also cites the creation of new states and boundary adjustments as significant factors. This may often leave certain groups without a nationality, and even in newly formed nations when citizenship is granted to all, minority of various racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds sometimes face difficulties in establishing their connection to the nation. The following generation will inherit statelessness in nations where nationality may only be attained by ancestry from a national.
Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI): This committed non-governmental organization strives to advance the rights of stateless individuals globally as well as their right to nationality. According to this organization, everyone, even those who are stateless, is entitled to the enjoyment of human rights, which include the right to one’s nationality. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), no one may be arbitrarily denied the opportunity to choose their nationality or to change it. Everyone has the right to a nationality. The fundamental UN Human Rights Treaties also provide specific protections for the right to nationality.
Action Network for Stateless Children (SCAN): This group promotes stateless children’s right to a nationality and focuses on the unique difficulties they encounter. This organization claims that even in cases where there are robust protections for a child’s right to nationality, the primary cause of statelessness in children is either parental statelessness or parental denial of nationality. To put an end to the generation of children who are stateless, it also emphasizes the significance of the UNHCR-UNICEF Coalition on Every Child’s Right to a Nationality and calls on them to step up their engagement with governments and civil society.
CONCLUSION
NGOs tackle statelessness and promote citizenship rights in a variety of ways. NGOs are essential; however, they also confront difficulties such as many NGOs have a restricted budget, which limits their influence and reach. Restrictive settings in several nations restrict nongovernmental organizations’ access to stateless persons and their freedom of operation. Specialized knowledge and resources are needed to navigate complicated and sometimes discriminatory nationality regulations.
In the end, they strive for a society in which everyone has the right to nationality and citizenship via promoting awareness, legislative reforms, and the empowerment of stateless people. For solutions to be advanced, cooperation and coordination between NGOs, governments, and international organizations are essential. Encouraging non-governmental organizations and establishing a conducive atmosphere for their endeavours are imperative in guaranteeing a thorough and enduring advancement towards eradicating statelessness.
The NGOs’ multifaceted approaches, committed personnel, and adherence to human rights greatly lessen statelessness and its terrible effects. Even if there are still obstacles to overcome, community empowerment, cooperation, and creativity are essential to guaranteeing that every person has access to the fundamental right to nationality and the safeguards it provides.
References:
This article was originally written by Tyler Bourke published on pepperdine.edu website. The link for the same is herein.
https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=globaltides
This article was originally written by Didor Sadulloev published on UNHCR website. The link for the same is herein. https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/638e1bba4.pdf
This article was originally written by Richard Shine published on icvanetwork.org website. The link for the same is herein.
https://www.icvanetwork.org/uploads/2021/07/Statelessness_NGO_statement_SCom_July2021_WRITTEN_0.pdf
This article was originally written by Jamie Chai Yun Liew published on Science Direct website. The link for the same is herein. file:///C:/Users/13-Article%20Text-215-1-10-20190619.pdf
This article was originally written by UNHCR published on UNHCR India website. The link for the same is herein. https://www.unhcr.org/in/about-unhcr/who-we-protect/stateless-people/ending-statelessness/un-conventions-statelessness
This article was originally written by Stefanie Grant published on ISI website. The link for the same is herein. https://files.institutesi.org/WORLD’s_STATELESS_2020.pdf.
This article was originally written by James Williamson published on Council of Europe website. The link for the same is herein. https://www.coe.int/en/web/compass/human-rights-activism-and-the-role-of-ngos.
This article was originally written by UNHCR published on UNHCR website. The link for the same is herein. https://www.unhcr.org/what-we-do/protect-human-rights/ending-statelessness
This article was originally written by John Smith published on US Dept. of State website. The link for the same is herein. https://www.state.gov/other-policy-issues/statelessness/.