4 1 BUILDING FOR IMPACT: ADDRESSING STATELESSNESS IN EUROPE OUR ACTIVITIES AND IMPACT PROTECTING STATELESS PERSONS FROM ARBITRARY DETENTION Across Europe a failure by states to put in place effective systems to identify stateless people leaves thousands exposed to repeated and indefinite detention. In 2016, working with its members as part of a threeyear project, ENS published new research mapping the scope and use of immigration detention in Ukraine, the UK and Bulgaria. The reports from the UK and Bulgaria received extensive media coverage and all three country partners organised dissemination events targeting lawyers, civil society organisations, government representatives and other stakeholders. The research conducted over the course of the project will inform a new Agenda for Change to be published in 2017 calling for concerted regional advocacy to protect stateless people from arbitrary detention. Luxembourg, April 2016 – Presentation by ENS Director Chris Nash at the statelessness conference organised by the European Migration Network Budapest, November 2016 – Seventeen ENS Advisory Committee members met in Budapest for a three-day strategy meeting and advanced training workshop HELPING TO SHAPE THE EU RESPONSE TO STATELESSNESS BUILDING CAPACITY AND SHARING OUR EXPERTISE Following the adoption of the first ever Conclusions on Statelessness by the European Council in December 2015, we have carried out a concerted engagement with the European Commission and the European Migration Network (EMN), tasked with taking forward the Conclusions. We presented at an EMN statelessness conference in Luxembourg in April 2016 and a closed meeting of Permanent Representatives in October 2016. We held bilateral meetings with the Slovakian Presidency of the EU, and issued a public statement to Slovakia and Malta ahead of their respective EU Presidencies. ENS has continued to develop its Europe Wide Training Programme (EWTP) in partnership with members, supporting the roll-out of training for lawyers, NGOs and government decision-makers in Albania, Poland and the Netherlands. This capacity-building work has reinforced national-level advocacy towards the introduction of dedicated statelessness protection mechanisms and has equipped lawyers to directly uphold the human rights of stateless persons. ENS members continue to engage in advocacy with the EMN and national governments across Europe. ENS has also spoken at various high profile events, including the annual EU Forum on the Rights of the Child in Brussels in November. The influential LIBE Committee of the European Parliament has been persuaded to hold a dedicated hearing on statelessness in 2017, influenced by online petitions submitted by ENS. In September, ENS held a three-day advanced training workshop and planning meeting in Budapest for our Advisory Committee members. The meeting was followed by a conference on managing and identifying statelessness organised by the European Migration Network and supported by ENS. We are regularly invited to share our expertise with both governmental and inter-governmental partners. This year, ENS presented at events in Borjomi, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Geneva, London, Santiago, Sofia and Strasbourg.