CHAPTER I
CHAPTER II
being granted permanent residence in Montenegro after obtaining birth certificates
and identity documents from Kosovo. Many beneficiaries were then also able to
access education, legal employment, health care and other rights.
“Getting identity documents made a huge difference in our lives.
We can now move freely. I am now able to work legally.” 95
CHAPTER III
Efforts to assist Roma people in similar situations continue. Like Bujar and Sabaheta
Elsani, Sadik Hasani fled from Kosovo to Montenegro in 1999. Sadik was just
six years old when his family fled. He and his wife, Buqa, and their five children,
all born in Montenegro, lived without identity documents for many years. In June
2024, they were registered in Kosovo’s citizenship registry through consular
services in Montenegro. This registration was necessary to regularize their status
in Montenegro. This will permit Sadik and Buqa’s children to access education,
health care and social assistance, and puts them on a route to eventually acquire
Montenegrin nationality.
CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER V
“Having legal status means a whole new world of possibilities,
and education will allow my children to seize these opportunities
that I barely had.” 96
CHAPTER VI
Norway
Population overview
Statelessness in Norway is primarily linked to forced migration. The majority of stateless
people in Norway are of Palestinian origin, including many from Syria and Iraq. In addition,
the number of stateless people arriving from Malaysia increased in 2021-2022, many of
them Chinese and Rohingya people from Myanmar.97 According to UNHCR data, there
were a known 1,621 stateless people and people with undetermined nationality in Norway
as of end-2024.98
CHAPTER VII
95
RECOMMENDATIONS
96
97
98
Bujar Elsani, quoted in An end to two decades of uncertainty for the Elsani family and over 1,000 others in
Montenegro, UNHCR, (no date).
Sadik Hasani, quoted in Mensur Bajramspahic, Stateless family in Montenegro secures legal status after a
25-year struggle, UNHCR, 10 June 2024.
Statelessness in Norway, Statistics Norway, 10 May 2024.
UNHCR’s Refugee Data Finder; Statelessness in Norway - 9 facts, UNHCR, 5 February 2024.
ANNEXES
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