Thousands of West Africans gain identity documents, 1 million still stateless: UN

By Kieran Guilbert DAKAR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - More than 20,000 people in West Africa have gained identity documents in the past year as part of a drive to eradicate statelessness, yet around one million in the region still have no nationality, the United Nations said on Thursday. Stateless people, sometimes referred to as legal ghosts, are not accepted as citizens by any country, which means they are denied basic rights - leaving many unable to work or access healthcare - and are vulne