A/HRC/38/52 participation of Member States, civil society organizations and other stakeholders in her future reports. 7. Under international human rights law and principles, all human beings are entitled to fundamental human rights on account of their inherent dignity. The preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights begins with the proclamation that recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. In reality, however, for all human beings, their capacity to enjoy full human rights depends on their citizenship, nationality or immigration status. Everywhere, States require passports, identification cards and other forms of proof of citizenship in order for residents to enjoy access to health care, education, financial services and to maintain formal employment. In short, citizenship, nationality and immigration status remain preconditions for full enjoyment of human rights for people everywhere. 8. Although the exact number of stateless persons is unknown, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that there are approximately 10 million stateless persons across the globe.1 The dire circumstances confronting stateless persons make clear the vital role that citizenship and nationality play in determining access to fundamental human rights. Owing to their lack of documentation, individuals who are stateless face grave and often insurmountable barriers in access to employment, education, health care, birth registration, property ownership, freedom of movement and political participation.2 Stateless persons also face greater risks of human trafficking victimhood and other forms of exploitation. 3 In general, stateless individuals live lives of constant fear of arrest, detention and even physical expulsion because they lack official documents. Children constitute over a third of the global stateless population, and in the countries with the 20 largest stateless populations, approximately 70,000 stateless children are born each year.4 9. Owing to their immigration status, other categories of non-citizens are also subject to serious human rights violations, including unlawful involuntary physical expulsion in violation of the non-refoulement principle under international refugee law and international human rights law. From formally recognized refugees to regular and irregular migrants, many are denied access to education, health care, employment and even equality before the law. Barriers to formal documentation can mean entire generations of refugee children are excluded from formal education. For example, 54 per cent of South Sudanese refugee children are out of school, 5 as are over half a million Syrian refugee children. 6 More generally, about only half of the global child refugee population has access to primary education as compared to the global non-refugee child average of 90 per cent. As refugee children get older, their educational opportunities only worsen: whereas the global average of adolescent secondary school attendees is 84 per cent, for refugee children this proportion plummets to 22 per cent enrolment in secondary school. 7 10. It simply remains the case that, notwithstanding the entitlement that every human being has to fundamental human rights, the lived experience of most is that it is citizenship, nationality and immigration status that effectively determine the ability to exercise and enjoy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 4 UNHCR, “The Sustainable Development Goals and addressing statelessness”, March 2017, p. 2. Available at www.refworld.org/docid/58b6e3364.html. See UNHCR, “This is our home: stateless minorities and their search for citizenship”, November 2017. Available at www.refworld.org/docid/59e4a6534.html. UNHCR and Open Society Justice Initiative, “Citizens of nowhere: solutions for the stateless in the U.S.”, December 2012, p. 10. Available at www.refworld.org/docid/50c620f62.html. UNHCR, “I am here, I belong: the urgent need to end childhood statelessness”, November 2015, p. 8. Available at www.unhcr.org/ibelong/wp-content/uploads/2015-10-StatelessReport_ENG15-web.pdf. See UNHCR, “The plight of South Sudanese refugee children—reflections of the Regional Refugee Coordinator”, 20 September 2017. Available at www.unhcr.org/afr/news/stories/2017/9/59c246674/ the-plight-of-south-sudanese-refugee-children-reflections-of-the-regional.html. UNHCR, “Syria crisis: education interrupted”, December 2013, p. 5. Available at www.unhcr.org/enus/publications/operations/52aaebff9/syria-crisis-education-interrupted.html. UNHCR, “Missing out: refugee education in crisis”, September 2016, p. 4. Available at www.unhcr.org/57d9d01d0.