“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” – Philippians 3:20
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates there were over 3.9 million stateless persons worldwide at the end of 2017. The actual number may be as high as 10 million.
A stateless person is someone who, under national laws, does not enjoy citizenship – the legal bond between a government and an individual – in any country. While some people are de jure or legally stateless persons (meaning they are not recognized as citizens under the laws of any state), many people are de facto or effectively stateless persons (meaning they are not recognized as citizens by any state even if they have a claim to citizenship under the laws of one of more states.)
What causes lack of citizenship? There are many reasons but lack of birth registration and birth certificates, birth to stateless parents, and political change and transfer of territory, which may alter the nationality status of citizens of the former state(s) are a few of them. Also administrative oversights, procedural problems, conflicts of law between two countries, or destruction of official records can cause stateless individuals.
Without citizenship, stateless people have no legal protection and no right to vote, and they often lack access to education, employment, health care, registration of birth, marriage or death, and property rights. Stateless people may also encounter travel restrictions, social exclusion, and heightened vulnerability to sexual and physical violence, exploitation, trafficking in persons, forcible displacement, and other abuses.
For all who know Jesus Christ, we have citizenship, a home in Heaven. Today in prayer, thank the Lord that through His grace, we have a Heavenly home.
“Socrates, being asked what countryman he was answered, ‘I am a citizen of the whole world.’ But ask a Christian what countryman he is, and he will answer, ‘A citizen of heaven.’” – William Secker
God’s Word: “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household” – Ephesians 2:19
Overcast, 61°