3 I want them to have what I did not have. I don’t want them to live my life […] I am nobody. If I disappeared from the face of the Earth, nobody would have known. IONELA, ROMANIA Just like any other parent, 30-year old Ionela from Romania wants the best for her children. She has experienced first-hand what life is like if you have no identification documents, cannot prove who you are or assert your claim to a nationality. This is a situation you would not wish on any child, let alone your own, which is why Ionela has been battling for over a decade to get documentation of her identity. Only then will she be able to register her children’s births and ensure that they are recognized as Romanian citizens.1 “It is so difficult!” she says, clearly frustrated by the process. Nevertheless, she has persevered, “for the children… my children” – and the end is now finally in sight as the Court has ordered the authorities to register her birth, which will unlock access to birth registration for her children. Her 12 year old daughter and two younger sons, who all currently lack any form of recognition from the Romanian state, may not yet appreciate the importance of their mother’s actions, but she has taken an important step towards securing for them one of the most fundamental of children’s rights: the right to a nationality. 2 The Convention on the Rights of the Child, universally ratified by European countries, obliges governments to fulfil the right of every child to acquire a nationality. 3 Yet, childhood statelessness persists.4 States are failing to take adequate steps to ensure that all children born within Europe’s borders or to European citizen parents acquire a nationality. For those affected, statelessness can mean lack of access to other rights and services, denied opportunities, unfulfilled potential and a sense of never quite belonging. 5 It brings hardship and anguish to children and their parents alike. Indeed, as Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, explains, statelessness can have “particularly negative consequences for children, whose future can irremediably be harmed by long-lasting lack of nationality”.6 Thus, whether the problem lies in a lack of adequate safeguards to provide a nationality to otherwise stateless children when a conflict of laws arises, or in practical obstacles to the enjoyment of a nationality – such as the structural inability of certain groups to access birth registration: more must be done to protect children from statelessness. This is, after all, an entirely preventable problem. Moreover, even a year is a long time in the life of a child, so “a sense of urgency must drive our work”.7 The European Network on Statelessness (ENS) is campaigning for an end to childhood statelessness in Europe. This goal is very relevant in a region in which over 600,000 people are stateless today, 8 and where intergenerational statelessness remains a problem. It is also an aim that is central to the #ibelong campaign,9 spearheaded by UNHCR, to end all statelessness globally by 2024.10 This report aims to map out the task ahead by discussing the different reasons why some of Europe’s children – children born in the region or to European citizen parents – remain without access to any nationality.11 It offers a synthesis of the findings of eight country studies, carried out by ENS members, on the scope and implementation of domestic laws and policies designed to prevent childhood statelessness.12 The report also draws on other sources of data relating to children’s right to a nationality in Europe and presents the main conclusions of a detailed comparative analysis of legislative safeguards designed to ensure that otherwise stateless children born in Europe acquire a nationality.13 Having identified the most significant gaps and obstacles, and drawing lessons from existing good practices, the report offers a series of recommendations designed to guide states and other actors in taking action to more effectively address – and ultimately end – childhood statelessness.