The rise of an ambitious actor in reducing statelessness? UNHCR, mandate expansion and the limits of legalism

Despite sustained international efforts to eradicate statelessness, millions continue to lack access to nationality, revealing persistent gaps in the realisation of the right to nationality. This article critically reappraises the role of the UNHCR in addressing statelessness following the expansion of its mandate in 1995 and its ambitious #IBelong campaign with a goal to eradicate statelessness by 2024. It argues that the UNHCR adopts a bureaucratic and legalistic approach that prioritises treaty accessions and equates them with progress as a convenient metric to measure success regarding reduction of statelessness. However, there is a disconnect between treaty accession and meaningful change in outcomes for stateless persons. Examining the ‘success stories’ of Kyrgyzstan, Kenya, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, the article highlights that reductions in statelessness can occur even without accession to the 1954 and 1961 Statelessness Conventions, while formal grant of nationality may not result in an effective right to a nationality. While mandate expansion, #IBelong campaign and the recent global alliance to end statelessness have increased the visibility of UNHCR in reducing statelessness, this visibility has not resulted into greater actorness on part of UNHCR as it continues to conceptualise statelessness as a legal problem to be primarily solved by states.