THE PROBLEM OF STATELESSNESS IN UKRAINE AND THE WAYS OF ADDRESSING IT
a full safeguard against statelessness for children born in the country who are
otherwise stateless. Article 7 of the Law grants automatic citizenship to children
born in the country to stateless parents who lawfully reside in the country. It does
not however provide a safeguard for those children born to stateless parents
who do not reside lawfully in the country or to children who cannot acquire the
nationality of their parents. It is recommended, the Law should be amended
to grant automatic citizenship to all children born in the country who would
otherwise be stateless, in line with Article 1(1)(a) of the 1961 Convention.
The Law of Ukraine on Immigration. In order to address the predicament of
former Soviet citizens who entered Ukraine for residence based on a birth
certificate together with their parents, before they reached the age of majority,
it is necessary recognize them as having a permit for immigration to Ukraine,
which would allow regulating their legal status as well as securing them access
to acquisition of citizenship of Ukraine.
Same treatment should be accorded to individuals who have arrived to Ukraine
on the basis of USSR passports and are not recognized as citizens by other
states-successors of the USSR, regardless of the time of their arrival to Ukraine
and residence status.
This Law does not distinguish the notions of immigration and repatriation; hence
persons of Ukrainian origin are regarded as immigrants rather than repatriates,
which complicates their access to acquisition of Ukrainian citizenship. To fill this
gap, the persons entitled to acquire Ukrainian citizenship by territorial origin as
well as their spouses and minor children (in order to adhere to the family unity
principle) arriving in Ukraine after 7 August 2001 should be recognized as having
a permit for immigration to Ukraine immediately upon their entry into the territory
of Ukraine. Since the provisions of the Law of Ukraine on Immigration concerning
the grounds to deny issuance of an immigration permit are not concerted with
the provisions of the Law of Ukraine on Citizenship of Ukraine concerning the
grounds that make admission of a person to citizenship of Ukraine impossible, it
is necessary to conciliate these provisions with each other.
The Law of Ukraine on the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons uses
the notions of forced return and forced removal, however, the Law of Ukraine on
Immigration does not take this into consideration, which by no means promotes
proper protection of the foreigners and stateless persons having an immigration
permit from deportation. Therefore, the provisions of both Laws concerning
forced return and forced removal should be conciliated with each other.
The Law of Ukraine on Refugees and Persons in Need of Complementary
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