It was originally referred to in at least one UN resolution as a "Jewish state." That is what it is. the Vatican is a Catholic state. So is Poland, pretty much (although maybe not legally).
The Vatican is a very small country. That it does not accept many, many immigrants and favors Catholic residents does not mean that the Pope is cruel.
The reality is that statelessness is a more common problem in the world than Americans realize. In fact, many countries including the US deport immigrants who do not have visas every year. It is an international crisis that is not discussed much.
Here are some examples:
One of the largest stateless groups is the Rohingyas, a Muslim people of South Asian descent refused citizenship by the Myanmar government. Hundreds of thousands are scattered throughout Bangladesh and Southeast Asia.
. . . .
n many cases groups failed to be included when their countries became independent or drew up a new constitution. Many Kuwaiti bedouns fell through the cracks when the country became independent in 1961, and the Roma in Europe have faced major problems in obtaining citizenship in the new countries that emerged after the break-up of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia.
Manly said the UNHCR is closely watching the succession of South Sudan. It is also scrutinising the drafting of Nepal's new constitution amid fears millions could end up stateless.
A major factor behind statelessness is often racial or ethnic discrimination. Syria, for example, denationalised many Kurds in 1962 and Mauritania expelled around 75,000 Black Mauritanians in 1989.
more
http://www.trust.org/item/?map=feature-invisible-millions-pay-price-of-statelessness/
Saudi Arabia forcibly returned 77 Iraqi refugees who had lived in the country since the end of the Gulf War in 1991. The refugees had been living in Rafha camp or the nearby town, and had received assistance from the Government up until their deportation.
Saudi Arabia deported more than 23,600 Indonesian migrant workers, most of them women. The majority had entered Saudi Arabia illegally, but others overstayed on Umrah pilgrimage visas. Most lacked passports and other forms of identification.
Saudi Arabia began the year holding 28 Eritrean refugees in detention, the last of a group of 214 former members of the Eritrean military that it held at a Coast Guard facility since 2005. During the year, Sweden accepted all 28 of them for resettlement. Saudi Arabia allowed UNHCR full access to them over the course of their confinement.
It also detained two Chechen asylum seekers on suspicion of terrorist activity, but allowed UNHCR to visit them and perform refugee status determinations.
http://www.refugees.org/resources/refugee-warehousing/archived-world-refugee-surveys/2009-wrs-country-updates/saudi-arabia.html
Being a sovereign country means being able to decide to exclude or deport an immigrant or guest as you wish.
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