A/HRC/7/23 page 8 precarious legal situations. Even though they may be entitled under law to citizenship in the State in which they live, they are often denied or deprived of this right and may in fact exist in a situation of statelessness. 21. The historical situations that have led to the denial or deprivation of citizenship to minority groups are manifold and differ from State to State. Many minority populations are indigenous and have lived in their States at least as long as the majority populations. Other minorities were established within the State by internal processes of cultural or religious diversification. Consequently, such minorities have as great a claim to belonging and to citizenship as the majority populations. 22. The centralization of political authority and the creation of defined categories of belonging have been associated with the practice of denying and depriving minorities of the right to citizenship. The way in which States have historically been constructed also helps to explain how minorities may become “locked out” of the right to citizenship, including through the re-organization of States. In all settings, minorities are subject to being seen in the context of wider geopolitical considerations and have sometimes been viewed as extensions of other powers, for example, where there is a clearly identifiable kin State with a similar ethnic composition. In this context, questions may be raised regarding political allegiance and loyalties. 23. Policies which rigidly distinguish between settled native populations and newcomers over long periods of time may give rise to racist perceptions and discrimination. Resource issues or economic slumps may trigger or strengthen protectionist policies that attempt to exclude minorities, or impose prohibitive requirements that block whole ethnic groups from acquiring citizenship rights to which they may otherwise be entitled. 24. The influence of exclusionary nationalist ideologies has a long history and was demonstrated shortly after the First World War, when foreign-born citizens who had been naturalized were stripped of their citizenship by countries including Belgium, France, Turkey and the Soviet Union. Infamously, the introduction of the Nuremburg laws in Germany and Austria deprived Jews born in those countries of their right to citizenship. More recent examples demonstrate that minorities denied or deprived of citizenship continue to face dramatic consequences, such as mass expulsions from the State. 25. State succession, which is often, but not necessarily, a consequence of war, is another explanation for the prevalence of discriminatory treatment of people who may not be migrants, but may find themselves living under a different jurisdiction. The break-up of the Soviet Union, for example, fomented numerous nationality contests which left millions effectively stateless and living as minorities in new political contexts. In a similar way, the de-federation and division of Czechoslovakia left thousands of Roma in a precarious situation while their citizenship status was questioned by both successor States. 26. Wars, whether of an inter-State or internal nature, and the processes of national integration and State-building triggered by the end of conflicts, have often been central forces generating discriminatory practices towards minorities. Disputes regarding citizenship often arise against the background of pre-existing ethnic or regional conflict, linked in many cases to broader factors of poverty, competition for scarce resources and political instability.