A stateless person is one who does not have a nationality or citizenship in any state. People are stateless because they did not acquire a nationality at birth, their state of origin no longer exists, or no state will accept them as citizens. Some groups, such as many Palestinians, have found themselves to be without a nationality because their state of origin was dissolved and the state in which they reside has not accepted them as its citizens. Other groups have been deprived of a nationality due to the breakup of their state of origin, such as the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the former Yugoslavia, into smaller independent states that do not recognize them as citizens. People are vulnerable to statelessness when governments determine citizenship based on descent, race, ethnicity, or the whim of those in power.

Some states bestow citizenship based...