THE HAGUE — An estimated 10 to 15 million people are not recognized as nationals by any country, often depriving them of basic rights most of the world takes for granted such as education, healthcare, housing and jobs.
At least a quarter of Ivory Coast’s population is estimated to be of foreign descent and the question of who is or is not Ivorian helped fuel two civil wars in French-speaking West Africa’s largest economy.: Nearly 479,000 people are stateless, including members of ethnic hill tribes such as the Yao, Hmong and Karen who live in the mountainous border with Myanmar and Laos and the semi-nomadic ‘Sea Gypsies’ along the Andaman coast.
U.N. data suggests the number of stateless fell to 160,000, but this is most likely because many fled the war.