MOVING STATELESSNESS FORWARD 197 six years, the Hungarian SDP has been functioning smoothly in practice; no misuses have been reported so far and the recognition rate is quite high (around 60-70 percent), despite the number of applicants being relatively small (less than 50 per year; altogether 190 applications until the end of 2012).11 Since the establishment of this procedural framework, Hungary puts more emphasis on the promotion of the protection of stateless people and on the reduction and prevention of statelessness in her international relations. This has also become a clear strategic goal: the Government Strategy of Hungary for Cooperating in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice of the EU for the Period of 2009-2014 stipulates that ‘Hungary – as a signatory to all international conventions in the field of statelessness – wishes to further represent the issue of the protection of stateless persons on the international plane, among others by disseminating the practical experiences gained from the exemplary Hungarian procedure for the recognition of stateless status.’12 This commitment is also clearly highlighted by the brand new Migration Strategy13 the personal scope of which covers stateless people in a systematic manner.14 Statelessness is mainly dealt with under the chapters on international protection and integration of foreigners15 and the issue also appears amongst the general principles, where it is stated that one of the main objectives of Hungary’s Migration Strategy is to protect the stateless (by providing them with a self-standing legal status with a high protection standard) and to effectively reduce and prevent statelessness.16 Against this background, below I will give some examples for implementing this policy goal in our bilateral, regional and global cooperation and foreign policy initiatives. 2 Concrete Policy Actions and Initiatives – Bilateral Relations and Regional (EU) Level I will first start with an overview of the recent government policy actions. In June 2010, Hungary organized a seminar on statelessness in the framework 11 12 13 14 15 16 Source of data: website of the Office of Immigration and Nationality (Bevándorlási és Állampolgársági Hivatal) <www.bevandorlas.hu> accessed 15 September 2013. Government Decision No. 1057/2009. (IV.24.), Annex. Government Decision No. 1968/2013. (X.4.), Annex. It was also appreciated by UNHCR (‘UNHCR Comments on the Government’s draft Migration Strategy (2014-2020)’ <www.unhcr.org/50e6e0099.pdf> accessed 15 September 2013). Chapter V – International Protection and Chapter VI – Integration of the Migration Strategy. Chapter I – Basic principles, point 3. tilburg law review 19 (2014) 194-202