The Economic Benefits of Resolving Statelessness
Statelessness affects millions worldwide, representing not just a global human rights crisis but billions in untapped economic potential. Although often seen as a humanitarian challenge, addressing statelessness globally in the places and forms in which it arises can also bring significant economic benefits. By resolving statelessness, countries can continue to develop their population’s human potential, unlock tax revenue, improve governance, and foster social stability — ultimately contributing to more inclusive and robust economies.
1.) Boosting Human Capital
Stateless individuals often face significant barriers to education, healthcare, and employment, resulting in untapped human potential on the basis of a lack of legal status. By granting citizenship or legal status to stateless people, governments enable them to contribute to the workforce legally, increasing overall productivity and access to necessary benefits. Access to education and healthcare allows stateless individuals to develop transferable skills and increases productivity, leading to a more educated and healthier population, which in turn drives economic growth.
Example: In Thailand, many stateless ethnic groups, particularly from Myanmar, have been denied access to education and healthcare. With their recently approved pathway to permanent residence and citizenship, Thailand could unleash the potential of thousands of young people among the nearly 600,000 registered stateless persons in Thailand (of which ~170,000 are children), allowing them to pursue higher education and professional careers, which would contribute to a more skilled workforce and long-term economic growth.
2.) Enhancing Tax Revenue
When stateless individuals are granted citizenship, they become eligible for formal employment, broadening the tax base. Stateless people who lack the documentation required to work legally often work in informal sectors, which means their earnings are not taxed. By normalizing their status, governments can formalize their economic activities, ensuring they contribute to national revenue.
Example: In the Dominican Republic, a 2013 court ruling that overturned birthright citizenship, retroactively stripped nationality from many Dominicans of Haitian descent. This led to a large group of stateless individuals working in the informal economy. By granting citizenship to these individuals, they would enter the formal workforce, contributing to national tax revenue through income tax, consumption tax, and social security contributions, increasing the government’s financial resources.
3.) Reducing Public Spending on Social Services
Stateless persons across the globe often depend on humanitarian aid or social welfare programs at a national or international level, which can place a strain on government resources. By granting them citizenship or legal residency, governments can begin to integrate stateless populations into their national economy, which can reduce reliance on costly humanitarian assistance. Additionally, citizenship allows stateless persons to contribute to social insurance systems, providing a more predictable and robust safety net from the government.
Example: In Myanmar, many stateless Rohingya live in precarious conditions, relying heavily on international humanitarian aid. If, as part of the end of the current civil war, Myanmar were able to resolve its long-standing issue of Rohingya statelessness, the inclusion of these individuals could lower dependency on international aid, redirecting funds towards more sustainable development. Granting citizenship could be an essential part of the reconstructive process and the development of a more inclusive government and more efficient social support systems in Myanmar.
4.) Promoting Social Stability
Statelessness can contribute to social marginalization and political instability. Individuals without legal status may feel disenfranchised, leading to discontent and even unrest. The lack of recognition or connection between the government and the people living within its borders cuts both ways and has the potential to create long-term dissociation and gap which can become dangerous or even revolutionary in a population that is prevented from having a legal connection to its government. By addressing statelessness, governments can foster a sense of belonging and citizenship, reducing the risk of social unrest and creating a more cohesive society. This stability can enhance investor confidence, reduce local security costs, encourage domestic and foreign investments, and improve overall economic conditions.
Example: In Kuwait, a significant portion of the population is made up of stateless Bedoon (a word that means “without nationality” in Arabic) who are excluded from many aspects of society. During the 2011 Arab Spring, widespread protests mobilized the Bedoon to fight against their stateless status in Kuwait. As a result, Kuwait proposed granting citizenship to some of the Bedoon, as a means of reducing feelings of disenfranchisement and marginalization. However, because the Kuwaiti government did not deliver on its proposal, and did not resolve the root causes of statelessness, Kuwait continues to brew a potential long-term risk of protests and unrest, due to the unequal treatment of Bedoon and significant economic disparities on account of nationality. This instability not only threatens social cohesion, but creates an ever growing threat to the future of the current government as Kuwait continues to develop policies which strip individuals of their citizenship today.
5. Facilitating International Cooperation and Trade
Countries that resolve statelessness may improve their standing on the international stage, leading to greater diplomatic and trade opportunities. Being seen as a responsible actor in addressing global challenges can strengthen a country’s relations with international organizations and other states, potentially unlocking access to development aid, trade agreements, and other beneficial partnerships.
Example: In the former Yugoslav countries (Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina) statelessness has been a significant issue since 1991. International cooperation has improved diplomatic relations and facilitated trade agreements. When countries resolve statelessness issues, they often strengthen ties with international organizations (for example, Slovenia and Croatia have joined the EU since addressing statelessness), or build reputational legitimacy and connections (Bosnia & Herzegovina being credited as a European leader on resolving Statelessness) which can lead to greater access to development funding or trade partnerships and create patterns of secondary benefits.
What we stand to gain, or lose…
By integrating stateless populations into the economy, governments can increase human capital, enhance tax revenues, improve the efficiency of public spending, and promote social stability. Ultimately, addressing statelessness contributes to more prosperous, stable, and inclusive societies across the globe, benefiting not only the individuals affected but also the global economy.
Up until now it has been possible for countries to ignore the issue of statelessness in their borders or pass it on to their neighbors without creating noticeable economic drag. However in a globally competitive economy the decision to ignore the plight of a stateless child in Thailand, the Bedoon of Kuwait, or Dominicans of Haitian descent creates ripples which will continue to reverberate powerfully into the future. In a country like Thailand which seeks to resolve the issue, in the long term we can expect the empowerment of people who otherwise would be arbitrarily marginalized and additional economic growth. Whereas in countries like Kuwait and The Dominican Republic which currently have not taken decisive action, the problem of statelessness will continue to quietly build and create limitations until the time comes when those societies can’t ignore the issue anymore and it must be resolved at a greater cost after the stateless populations in those countries have grown even larger, more starkly alienated, and disenfranchised.
Legal Status vs. an actual path to Citizenship
One potential argument against my views on the value of resolving statelessness by granting nationality, is the idea that most of these positive economic outcomes could be achieved simply by creating a legal status which provides documentation without addressing the problem of nationality (such as the TPS or DACA programs in the United States). Creating a parallel system which allows legal status but does not offer a path to citizenship may seem to capture some of the economic benefits including access to education, healthcare, and inclusion in tax revenue generation.
However, while a legal status may improve some aspects of the relationship between a stateless individual and the country where they live, failing to create a path towards citizenship prevents the stateless from establishing the sense of belonging and investment in the group project that a true stakeholder (a citizen) has in the flourishing of their country.
Today there are countries, including places like the United States, which are considering taking a step backwards and creating new limitations on who can become a citizen, or even removing citizenship from certain individuals. Many of these policies may seem to offer short term economic victories in the form of exploitation of unequal power to lower the price of labor.
Perpetuating a system of labor exploitation through statelessness and limitations on nationality will share similar negative long-term effects to other historic forms of exploitation: Serfdom, Slavery, Colonization, Forced Marriage/Patriarchy, and other forms of economic domination. While a system may seem functional for some elites, there is a very real price being paid by others and the deeper such a system is allowed to take root the more difficult it will be to overcome and the larger the eventual price will be.
Statelessness is not evenly distributed, and some countries will have a disproportionate role to play in ending this global issue. However the countries like Kyrgyzstan which are quickest to find a genuine resolution to this legal issue today will be the first to reap the long-term economic benefits of integrated citizens tomorrow. Working to end statelessness across the globe is an opportunity to make an investment for a better future that will pay dividends for years to come.
Benjamin Pelon is a student in the Boston University Human Rights Clinic and a second-year J.D. candidate at Boston University School of Law.
