Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1546061
THERE is a growing number of ordinary people living in Mal- ta who have one extraordinary thing in common—they do not hold any nationality at all. Being a citizen is so normal that it's challenging to compre- hend what it means to be with- out citizenship. It is difficult to find the right words to describe the absence of something. More often than perhaps we should, those of us who seek to convey the urgency of this issue and the severity of its impact have fallen back on terms like 'legal ghosts' and 'citizens of nowhere' to try to portray what statelessness means. Historically, statelessness has been regarded as a technical legal issue; however, it has dev- astating consequences for real individuals. The existing legal loopholes that have contributed to the increasing number of stateless individuals in Malta were high- lighted once more last June, when the NGO Moviment Graf- fitti made a passionate appeal to the government, urging it to address these troubling short- comings. Malta acceded to the 1954 con- vention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons in 2019; how- ever, it still offers very limited protection for stateless individ- uals and is not a signatory to the 1961 Convention on the Reduc- tion of Statelessness. Adding to the complexity, there's no current way to deter- mine statelessness, nor is there any recognised status offering protection to stateless people. Although some stateless people may be able to regularise their stay through alternative means, such as temporary humanitarian protection, these options remain limited. Data on the stateless popula- tion is therefore limited, with figures available only for the very small number of asylum seekers, international protection benefi- ciaries, or refused asylum seek- ers recorded as 'nationality un- known' who cannot be returned and may or may not be stateless. It is crucial to emphasise that while the pursuit of statistical information on statelessness is a valuable endeavour, it should not be undertaken in isolation or regarded as an end in itself. This effort must always complement and inform broader initiatives aimed at protecting stateless individuals, reducing the preva- lence of statelessness, and ulti- mately eradicating it. Although we have legislation providing some protections against arbitrary detention, there are limited procedural guarantees and safeguards. Any rights afforded to those detained for removal purposes are very limited, while restrictions on access to detention centres lim- it the possibility for NGOs and other actors to identify stateless individuals. Implementing the few safe- guards in our law to prevent statelessness remains problem- atic, with key gaps. We do have legislation preventing stateless- ness in cases of adopted children and newborns whose parents re- main unidentified, together with a provision granting children born stateless in Malta a condi- tional right to acquire nationali- ty following five years' legal resi- dence, but it's next to nothing in properly addressing the growing social scourge of statelessness. In the last decade, Malta re- ceived periodic international recommendations to accede to the 1961 convention, including appeals made by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimi- nation Against Women and the Committee on the Rights of the Child. It also received interna- tional recommendations to es- tablish a mechanism to identify stateless persons and guarantee their rights and protection, with an identification and referral mechanism for children who are undocumented and at risk of statelessness. Legal loopholes that further worsen the statelessness di- lemma arise from the Maltese Citizenship Act's definition of a stateless person, which devi- ates from the 1954 convention's definition by stating that state- lessness means being "destitute of any nationality". Yet, the con- vention definition is referenced in the immigration regulations. To ensure the adequate identifi- cation and protection of stateless people, Malta must adopt and apply a consistent definition of a stateless person in line with inter- national law. Despite being identified dur- ing refugee status determination procedures as part of an asylum claim, statelessness does not re- ceive formal acknowledgement. There is a definition of "vulner- able persons" in law, but state- lessness is not included and is not considered a vulnerability factor. No vulnerability assessment is carried out before a decision to detain, except for those who are manifestly vulnerable, such as very young children and people presenting visible vulnerabilities. Worse, statelessness is not con- sidered to be a juridically relevant fact during the decision to detain, and stateless people are detained in practice prior to the authorities initiating removal procedures. Individuals experiencing state- lessness face distinctive difficul- ties. It can trap individuals in pov- erty and lead to stigma, isolation, and disenfranchisement. Feelings of being lost, rejected, unsettled, and insecure are common among stateless persons. However, they should not be defined or limited by their statelessness, just as you or I should not be defined by our nationality. These individuals possess hopes, aspirations, abilities, char- acter, a sense of self, and often a profound connection to their community and a homeland. The stateless are perhaps better described not as 'citizens of no- where' but as 'unrecognised cit- izens'. They have a place in this world, a country of their own, but this country does not recognise them as its nationals. Statelessness impacts other is- sues, such as children's rights and forced migration. This situation must change, as every individual is entitled to a nationality. The loss of national- ity is as grave as the loss of life or personal freedom. Malta has the primary duty to identify stateless persons to im- plement its international obliga- tions towards these persons un- der the two UN Conventions and in accordance with international human rights law. Their statelessness sets them apart, but their humanity unites them and us. 10 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 5 AUGUST 2026 OPINION Life is unmanageable when you are stateless Mark Said Veteran lawyer Despite being identified during refugee status determination procedures as part of an asylum claim, statelessness does not receive formal acknowledgement Statelessness has been regarded as a technical legal issue