Nubians: Stateless or second-class citizens?

NAIROBI: The international definition of a stateless person set out in Article 1 of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. The article defines a stateless person as “a person who is not considered as a national by any State”. It is believed there are some 15 million stateless people.

According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), one acquires nationality automatically at birth or you obtain one later on in life. Those who acquire nationality at birth are through birth in a territory (jus soli) or parents transmit their nationality to their children (jus sanguinis). Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights establishes the right of every person to a nationality.