Sabrija Zeciri, a displaced Roma from Kosovo (S/RES/1244 (1999)) with his mother and his four children. Sabrija’s family has endured generations of statelessness. As a result of the efforts of the mobile team of the Kosovo authorities, his father has recently been registered in Kosovo, which will help enter Sabrija and his children in the birth and citizens’ records. This will end the vicious circle of statelessness in his family. © UNHCR States What can states do? ‘Cristina, born stateless in Italy but now entitled to Italian nationality because she has reached the age of 18, is physically and intellectually disabled. It is difficult for her to understand the concept of citizenship, let alone consent to acquiring Italian nationality or prepare a personal application. As a result, she has been denied the opportunity to submit an application for nationality and remains stateless.’ © UNHCR / F. Martin nn PREVENT AND REDUCE STATELESSNESS: States such as the Russian Federation and Estonia have changed their laws in recent years to prevent statelessness at birth and to help stateless people acquire a nationality. nn IDENTIFY AND PROTECT STATELESS PERSONS: Ensure a life in dignity, security and stability for stateless persons. Only a few European states have a dedicated mechanism in place to identify and protect stateless persons. Among them are France, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Moldova, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and most recently, Bulgaria. nn ACCEDE TO THE STATELESSNESS CONVENTIONS: Since 2011, six European states acceded to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and eleven European states became parties to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Today, 38 European states are parties to the 1954 Convention and 30 European states are parties to the 1961 Convention. nn ENSURE ACCESS FOR ALL TO CIVIL REGISTRATION AND DOCUMENTATION: The Convention on the Rights of the Child says children shall be registered immediately after birth. Lack of birth registration increases the risk of statelessness. In Europe, this is a particular concern among Roma communities in the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, where legal, administrative and practical measures should be in place to ensure birth registration and documentation. 1961 What is the 1961 Convention? THE 1961 CONVENTION ON THE REDUCTION OF STATELESSNESS is the primary international legal instrument that deals with the means to avoid statelessness. The Convention provides for acquisition of nationality for children who would otherwise be stateless and who have a link with the state through birth in the country or descent. It also contains safeguards against statelessness following loss, deprivation or renunciation of nationality as well as provisions to avoid statelessness in the context of state succession. STATELESSNESS IN EUROPE 13