Problematizing the Conventions on Statelessness

There are currently 79 states party to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, with a further 13 who have pledged accession in the near future. The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, meanwhile, currently has 54 states party, and a further 21 pledges. These numbers rose particularly in 2000, and from 2011, following a push by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR). These conventions have arisen alongside the Convention and Protocol relating to Refugees, and yet have had quite a different trajectory. This report traces the history of these conventions and elements of the campaign for accession. It then examines some of the difficulties and conflicts in law and ideology that have arisen as a result of ratification or accession.