TO BE STATELESS MEANS THAT YOU ARE NOT CONSIDERED AS A NATIONAL BY ANY STATE UNDER THE OPERATION OF ITS LAW. While you and I do not think about our nationality on a daily basis, for stateless persons, the lack of a nationality is an ever-present concern. Possession of nationality often serves as a key to enjoying many rights, such as access to education, health care, employment, and the right to marry and to enjoy a family life. As a result, stateless persons are some of the most vulnerable people in Europe and in the world. The terms “CITIZENSHIP” and “NATIONALITY” are used interchangeably in this brochure. ?Did you know? nn …that ILONA, a young Roma woman living in Ukraine cannot officially get married to Igor, a Ukrainian citizen, because she does not have any documents to prove her nationality? nn …that STERA and MOHAMMED, born in Malta to a Syrian mother and a stateless father, are stateless? nn …that MICHAEL, living in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, cannot be mentioned as the father on the birth certificate of his son Stefan, because Michael is stateless and has no documents to prove his identity? nn …that TETYANA, OLENA AND VERONIKA, three sisters who moved from Moldova to Ukraine in 1989, have been stateless since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and have now passed on their statelessness to their children? nn …that SARAH who lived in the Netherlands for the last twelve years cannot naturalize because she cannot prove she is stateless? nn …that ASIYA, who was born in Kazakhstan when it still formed part of the Soviet Union and is now a recognized stateless person in France, has to get a visa to see her parents in Kazakhstan? nn …that KARIM, born in Montenegro to stateless parents, cannot go to school because his birth could not be registered? nn …that ALEXANDER, a former Soviet citizen, who came to Slovakia more than twenty years ago, has been detained more than twenty times there, because he is stateless and is not allowed to stay in the country? nn ...that MARIA, who was abandoned at birth and raised in Poland, was stateless and could only obtain Polish citizenship 17 years later? nn ...that ROMAN could not receive an official burial because he was stateless? STATELESSNESS IN EUROPE 1