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- This event has passed.
Statelessness (Waiting list only)
- Members' Lunch with Erika Feller
Hosted by:
October 8, 2015 @ 11:30 pm - October 9, 2015 @ 1:00 am
"Stateless people fall into a particular human rights void. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) as the Human Rights Committee has recognized, stipulates that with few exceptions human rights are ‘not limited to citizens of States parties but must be available to all individuals, regardless of nationality or whether stateless … who find themselves in the territory or subject to the jurisdiction of the State party’. The reality is, though, very different from the theory.
Stateless people have been termed ‘the ultimate forgotten people’. A stateless person is someone who has no national identity or legal personality in his or her country of residence. For the millions of stateless people around the world, no nationality means identity documents conferring legal personality and the rights that go with this – access to health care, education, property rights, freedom to leave and return to your country – are simply not available. Births may not be registered. There may even be anonymity in death, with a recognised civic funeral not possible. In many ways these people simply do not exist."
From 2005 to April 2013 Erika Feller held the post of Assistant High Commissioner (Protection), one of the four top management positions with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. This was the culmination of a 26 year long career with UNHCR, and had been preceded by 14 years service as an Australian diplomat, in Canberra and overseas. This is just a sample of a speech she recently gave.
You are reading correctly, this event is in October 2015, but it is certainly one to schedule in your diary as you will not want to miss it!