Stateless persons are people who do not have citizenship in any country in the world. This category is also called stateless. It is interesting that absolutely any person can become a stateless person by virtue of forced or voluntary actions.
Reasons for loss of citizenship
Stateless persons are people who, from birth or at an older age, have lost their membership in a particular state. There may be several reasons for this situation:
- A person becomes stateless from birth if he was born into the family of parents who do not have citizenship. In this case, the condition must be met that the country does not provide for automatic citizenship at the place of birth. As for the Russian Federation, here a stateless child becomes a citizen without any additional procedures.
- Voluntary and deliberate renunciation of citizenship in the country. After submitting the application and completing the relevant procedure (if it is provided for by law), the person passes the passport to the migration authorities and automatically becomes a stateless person. This is usually a temporary situation. Typically, this procedure precedes the adoption of citizenship of another state.
- Forced deprivation of citizenship is possible if the state security service considered the presence of a person in its territory potentially dangerous. As a rule, this procedure is followed by the expulsion of a person from the country. It may also be due to political persecution.
- Detecting fictitious legal procedures. For example, it was found out that a person entered into a false marriage in order to obtain a certain status in the state. Or the person is in the country on the basis of a fake identity card. This entails the deprivation of citizenship.
- The disappearance of the state itself. For example, after the collapse of the USSR, all its citizens automatically lost their citizenship. In fact, they were stateless until they replaced their Soviet passport with an identity card of a new state. It is interesting that today there are people who have not replaced the Soviet passport with a new one.
- Conscious unwillingness to have any citizenship. This may be due to religious, political or some other beliefs and motives.
Restriction of the rights of stateless persons
Stateless persons - this is the subject of ongoing disputes regarding the legal status, as well as the situation in the country of residence. As a rule, stateless persons are mistrusted, and therefore the legislation imposes some restrictions on their rights and freedoms, namely:
- a ban on participation in elections and referenda;
- the impossibility of occupying positions in state institutions and in posts related to the preservation of state secrets;
- a ban on military service;
- the inability to work as pilots of military and civil aviation, as well as captains of ships;
- membership in parties and other political associations is prohibited;
- restriction on movement within the state, provided that the government has adopted an appropriate order.
Stateless Rights
The universal human rights of stateless persons are generally recognized and preserved in many countries of the world. This category can be broadly described by the following points:
- getting an education;
- use of the services of medical institutions;
- realization of professional potential in industries that are not subject to state restrictions;
- departure for the territory of the state (for a limited period of time).
Imperfections of the legislation of the Russian Federation in relation to stateless persons
The stay of stateless persons on the territory of the Russian Federation is somewhat complicated by the imperfection of the law. This is mainly about bureaucratic formalities associated with the acquisition of a specific status in the country. So, as a prerequisite for obtaining the status of a temporary resident of the state, a stateless person must present a migration card. But a person with such a status simply cannot have such a document. And without the status of a temporary resident, a stateless person cannot obtain a residence permit and go through the remaining stages of acquiring citizenship. It turns out something like a bureaucratic vicious circle.
Stateless person document
Stateless person does not have any identity documents. He may not have a passport or birth certificate. Nevertheless, the person must have some kind of document identifying him. One of the following options is possible:
- an identity card issued in another country;
- temporary residence permit;
- residence;
- stateless certificate;
- other documents that are valid in the territory of the state.
Denial of legal status
The status of a stateless person must be determined within three months from the moment of arrival on the territory of the Russian Federation. By contacting the migration service authorities, a person may be denied registration. There can be three main reasons for this:
- if employees of the migration service see statelessness as a threat to state security or to some individuals;
- if the stateless person has already been deported from the country in which he wants to obtain a certain status;
- if the person has an open or outstanding criminal record.
Citizenship as an obligation
In world legal practice, an ambiguous position is noted regarding such a category as stateless persons. This is due to the fact that more and more countries are introducing a ban on the voluntary renunciation of citizenship. The exception is cases when this action is carried out with the aim of registering membership in another state.
The conventions adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1961, as well as by the Council of Europe in 1997 define citizenship as an obligation of a person. Countries that have signed these documents undertake to take measures to prevent the voluntary refusal to belong to the state without transferring to another nationality.
Citizenship as a right
In 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted a declaration in connection with which citizenship acts precisely as a right. Everyone has the right to belong to a state and cannot be deprived of it. At the same time, no one has the right to restrict a person from renouncing citizenship. For example, in the USA, renunciation of belonging to a country is enshrined in law.
Stateless person identification
If there is an intention to obtain any legal status, stateless persons must, first of all, go through the procedure of identification. To do this, you need to contact the FMS with a corresponding statement, to which are attached the originals of all documents available to a person. These papers must be mandatory:
- original or duplicate birth certificate;
- notarized copies of passports of parents (their personal appearance is also possible);
- certificate of registration on the territory of the Russian Federation (if one is not available, a departure sheet or some archival documents may be provided);
- detailed autobiography, hand-written in Russian;
- receipt confirming payment of state duty.
Obtaining citizenship of the Russian Federation according to a simplified scheme
As a rule, the legal status of a person from citizenship upon receipt of a certain statute in the Russian Federation is the same as that of any other foreigner. Nevertheless, there are a number of cases where a stateless person can become a member of the country according to a simplified scheme within six months:
- A stateless person has one or two parents who permanently reside in the Russian Federation.
- Apatrid was a full-fledged citizen of the Soviet Union, whose successor Russia declares itself to be.
- A stateless person has a birth certificate in the USSR.
- The man was married to a citizen of the Russian Federation for at least three years.
Conclusion
The legal status of stateless persons remains uncertain. Recently, there has been a tendency for state governments to try to reduce the number of people with stateless status. This is primarily achieved by prohibiting the voluntary renunciation of citizenship without transferring to another citizenship. And those stateless persons who live on the territory of the country undertake to apply to the appropriate authorities for registration and obtaining official status within the time period specified by law.