How does the citizenship issue pose a difficult humanitarian and political problem for many states?

Decisions regarding how many people can be absorbed as citizens in a country poses a difficult humanitarian and political problem for many states.

(i)Many countries have a policy of accepting those fleeing from persecution or war. But they may not want to accept unmanageable numbers of people or expose the country to security risks.

(ii)India prides itself on providing refuge to persecuted peoples, as it did with the Dalai Lama and his followers in 1958. Entry of people from neighbouring countries has taken place along all the borders of the Indian state and the process continues.

(iii)Many of these people remain as stateless peoples for many years or generations, living in camps, or as illegal migrants. Only a relatively few of them are eventually granted citizenship.

(iv)Such problems pose a challenge to the promise of democratic citizenship which is that the rights and identity of citizen would be available to all people in the contemporary world.

(v)Although many people cannot achieve citizenship of a state of their choice no alternative identity exists for them.

(vi)The problem of stateless people is an important one confronting the world today. Borders of states are still being redefined by war or political disputes and for the people caught up in such disputes the consequences may be severe.