A group of South Sudanese displaying their new Nationality Certificates (ID). Eye Radio file photo.

The government has called on UNHCR to provide statistics on stateless people in South Sudan so that they can be absorbed into the community.

A stateless person is one who is not considered a national by any state under the operation of its law.

The calls comes after the UN refugee agency and the directorate of immigration released a study of statelessness in South Sudan.

“Our partners should help us conduct further research to find out the statistics of the people who are stateless so that in a way they can fit into our traditional set up,” said Ambassador Antipas Nyok, the national Coordinator of the International Conference of Great Lake Region at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The study explains main triggers behind the statelessness and outlines categories of people who are at risk.

It also identifies capacity and legal gaps that exist at central and local level and offers concrete recommendations to all concerned stakeholders on how to address the problem.

Among major risks of statelessness in South Sudan, the study particularly emphasizes state succession, procedural gaps and divergent application of provisions in the Nationality Law for some specific ethnic and minority groups.

The lack of a civil registration system, underfunded state institutions as well as ongoing conflict rare other major risks.