56. Ms Christina Bukalo17 underlined that in order to solve and improve the situation of stateless individuals, international or national representatives and other stakeholders need to be in direct contact with stateless individuals. She stressed that there is always a gap between theory and reality, and this can only be understood by listening to those who experience these difficulties with the aim of identifying how international or national representatives could best support these vulnerable persons. She emphasised that: “It’s one thing that I was not given a nationality, but it’s not acceptable, that I was not even given the information I would need to at least cope with this situation”. 57. Ms Gillian Triggs underlined that with concerted efforts and political will, statelessness could be resolved and eliminated. She highlighted that significant improvements in addressing statelessness in Europe were achieved in the past few years. Nonetheless important gaps remained in Europe, particularly in the area of identification and protection of stateless persons and in addressing childhood statelessness. She stressed that the only way to resolve statelessness is for stateless persons to acquire a nationality. In the meantime, she encouraged states to introduce statelessness determination procedures where they did not already exist and to ensure that any person recognized as stateless enjoyed the rights to which they are entitled under the 1954 Convention until they acquired a nationality. 58. Mr Chris Nash emphasized the importance of identifying and protecting stateless individuals in particular in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. “You cannot solve the problem if you can’t see it” he recalled. Due to the lack of legal frameworks to identify and resolve statelessness, stateless people’s enjoyment of the right to health varies significantly from country to country and many barriers are encountered. To date, stateless people remain largely invisible in responses at national, regional, and global level. COVID-19 exacerbated pre-existing discrimination, social exclusion, and deprivation experienced by many stateless people in Europe. Social, structural, and environmental determinants of health have worsened, including racism and xenophobia; poor and congested living conditions; lack of sanitation and hygiene; chronic (mental and physical) ill health; overrepresentation in the informal labour market; and lack of access to healthcare and social security. During the pandemic, many stateless people have lost their sources of income, had to work whilst sick and without adequate protection, been unable to access state aid and healthcare, and children’s education has been disrupted. 59. Mr Christophe Poirel recalled that it is for the member states of the Council of Europe to guarantee to everyone on their territory the fundamental rights provided for in the European Convention on Human Rights. This implies in particular the right to be treated with respect and dignity and on an equal footing. He drew attention that, although the European Convention on Human Rights does not expressly mention a right to nationality, the European Court pays particular attention to this issue within the framework of Article 8 of the ECHR on the right to respect for private and family life. The European Committee of Social Rights, in its interpretative observation on the rights of stateless persons under the European Social 17 See testimony of Christiana Bukalo 20