Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons | |
Location Signed: | New York City, United States |
Condition Effective: | 6 ratifications |
Signatories: | 23 |
Parties: | 98[1] |
Depositor: | Secretary-General of the United Nations |
Languages: |
The Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons is a 1954 United Nations multilateral treaty that aims to protect stateless individuals.
The United Nations Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights were approved on 10 December 1948. The Declaration at Article 15 affirms that:[2]
The Convention relating to the Status of Refugees was promulgated on 28 July 1951. Despite an original intention, it did not include any content about the status of stateless persons and there was no protocol regarding measures to reduce statelessness.
On 26 April 1954, ECOSOC adopted a Resolution to convene a Conference of Plenipotentiaries to "regulate and improve the status of stateless persons by an international agreement".
The ensuing Conference adopted the Convention on 28 September 1954.
The Convention entered into force on 6 June 1960.
The key substantive content of the convention is listed below.
As of 2024, the United Nations, the depository of the convention, lists 98 parties to the Convention. One state, the Holy See, has signed the convention as a non-member state but has not ratified it.[1] The 98 parties are:
Madagascar denounced its accession made in 1962, effective 2 April 1966.[1] The United Kingdom extended the convention to British Hong Kong, and China has declared that the convention continues to apply to Hong Kong post-1997.[1]