To skew the results of a presidential election, Cote d’Ivoire denationalizes thousands of its citizens, a decision that ultimately contributes to armed conflict. The Dominican Republic routinely refuses to issue identity documents to its citizens simply because they have Haitian ancestry. After a civil war in the 1970s, thousands of Urdu-speakers are “stranded” in Bangladesh, denied entry to their native Pakistan and refused citizenship by both countries.

These are but a few examples of the many—between 11 and 15 million people by some estimates—who have lost their rights by losing, or never receiving, recognition of their citizenship. Around the world, racial and ethnic minorities are increasingly denied or stripped of citizenship through mass expulsion, unfair laws, arbitrary policies, and insurmountable bureaucratic requirements. The human right to citizenship is under threat as never before.

Citizenship is the essential foundation of a person’s legal identity—the right to have rights. Although under international law citizenship is necessary only to vote, hold public office, and exit and enter a country freely, in practice it is often essential to obtain housing, healthcare, employment, education or any other component of a decent life. When states withdraw recognition of an individual’s citizenship, often as a result of ethnic or gender discrimination and without due process, people’s lives are jeopardized.

But sometimes even being a citizen isn’t enough.

In Europe today, minority groups face discrimination on a daily basis in many aspects of their lives. Landlords refuse to rent houses to Roma or people of color. Immigrants endure verbal and physical abuse. Employers refuse to offer jobs to Muslim applicants. Police stop youths because of the color of their skin. Schools allow teachers and pupils to wear symbols of one religion, but not of another.

European and international law forbids discrimination on a growing number of grounds. However, the struggle for equality is far from over. Despite an international consensus against discrimination, governments continue to ignore or selectively enforce the law.

The Open Society Justice Initiative is committed to exposing, documenting and challenging statelessness and discrimination, whether governments are stripping people of nationality or police are stopping and searching people based on ethnic, religious, and racial stereotypes.