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Address recommendations to the Government of Estonia to further prevent and reduce the
problem of childhood statelessness in the country. In particular, in its Concluding Observations
on the second, third and fourth report of Estonia, by welcoming the considerable steps Estonia
has taken in the prevention of new cases and certain measures for the reduction of current cases
of childhood statelessness yet urging the Government to ensure that appropriate legislative and
other implementing measures are enacted to prevent and reduce statelessness among children in
all situations.
The report of Estonia to the Committee
2. In its combined second, third and fourth periodic reports to the Committee, the Government of Estonia
states that the naturalisation of persons with undetermined citizenship continues to be one of its
priorities.10 The government indicated a number of measures which have been taken to facilitate
access to citizenship for stateless children (under the Estonian legal system “persons with
undetermined citizenship”) born in Estonia, including simplifying procedures and conducting
information campaigns to encourage applications for citizenship.
3. Since the submission of the state party’s report, an important further step towards guaranteeing
children’s right to a nationality has been taken with the passing of a new amendment to the Citizenship
Act on 21 January 2015. The Institute and ENS hope that the adoption of the List of Issues and the
Committee’s dialogue with the government of Estonia provides an opportunity to consider this most
recent progress and to address certain flaws and gaps that nevertheless remain unaddressed, as
outlined below.
Statelessness in Estonia
4. Following its independence in 1991, Estonian citizenship was extended only to citizens of pre-war
Estonia and their descendants. As a consequence, almost 40% of the population of Estonia became
stateless. This particularly disadvantaged the Soviet-era settlers, who are mainly persons of Russian
ethnicity, as well as subsequent generations born on Estonian territory. As of 2014, there were still
89,533 stateless persons in Estonia, including 936 stateless children born in the country.11
5. Although persons with “undetermined citizenship” have a stable legal status and a broad range of
rights, they remain stateless. As a consequence they are restricted in the enjoyment of their (human)
rights. Non-citizens are particularly restricted from political participation and working in public office,
as well as other limitations, including in transactions of immovable property.12 As the Committee has
previously noted, the stateless situation of parents, who by virtue of their status are unable to
participate fully in Estonian society, also negatively impacts on their children’s integration into Estonian
society.13
6. Despite international and domestic pressure on Estonia to resolve the problem of statelessness within
its borders, policy on citizenship remained conservative following the initial Citizenship Act of 1992. To
date, children of parents with undetermined citizenship have been entitled to Estonian citizenship by
naturalisation only if the parents have lawfully resided in Estonia for at least five years and only
following the completion of an application process through which the parents express their will for the
10
Ibid, pp. 39.
UNHCR, Mid-Year Trends 2014; Explanation note to the amendment to the Citizenship Act (nr737), available at:
http://www.riigikogu.ee/download/ab5f780c-3b11-4bb3-8f5b-d819ec8deaa4/ab5f780c-3b11-4bb3-8f5b-d819ec8deaa4.
12 European Network on Statelessness and the Legal Information Centre for Human Rights ‘Ending Childhood Statelessness: A Study on Estonia’
(2014) pp. 6-7.
13 Above n3.
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