The World Jewish Congress today called on the United Nations to adopt a convention providing for the elimination of statelessness and for international protection of stateless persons during the transition period.
In a memorandum submitted to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, the Congress, through its acting political director, Dr. Robert S. Marcus, urged that body to "adopt at the earliest possible moment a resolution calling upon the secretariat to prepare such a draft." The memorandum proposed that the draft convention be based on the following principles:
1. Stateless persons should be granted in the country of their residence the enjoinment of all civil rights to the same extent as citizens thereof, and thus be exempt from the disabilities of alienage in regard to protection by courts, acquisition of property, economic pursuits, compensation for damage, etc.
2. The United Nations should undertake to accord protection to all bona fide stateless persons, through a specialized agency.
3. Special identity and travel documents issued by the authority of the United Nations should be granted to all bona fide stateless persons and be honored in the same manner as passports issued by governments. These documents should entitle the holder to travel and be admitted into signatory states on no less favorable conditions than is customary in the case of foreigners enjoying the protection of a government.
4. Persons born in a country of bona fide residents or unknown parentage should facto become citizens thereof unless they acquire another nationality by birth.
5. The countries where stateless persons reside in good faith should under-take to naturalize them within a reasonable period of time.
The Congress called attention to the serious plight of thousands of Jews in Europe who are "classified as stateless, do not enjoy the protection of any government, are regarded by the countries of their residence, actual or desired, as foreigners, and thus, Through no fault of theirs, are subjected to restrictions with respect to sojourn, movement and economic activity."
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
