Joint Submission
to the Human Rights Council
at the 44th Session
of the Universal Periodic Review.
GERMANY
Introduction
1. Statefree, the European Network on Statelessness (ENS), and the Institute on
Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI) make this joint submission to the Universal Periodic
Review (UPR), on the right to a nationality and human rights challenges pertaining to
statelessness in Germany.1
2. This submission focuses on:
I.
II.
Statelessness determination and access to rights for stateless people
Children’s right to a nationality and birth registration
3. Statefree,2 the first German stateless-led non-profit organisation dedicated to the topic
of statelessness, was founded in 2021 with the goal of empowering stateless people
through community, visibility and equal rights. After the launch of the first global
platform for stateless individuals and organisations working on statelessness
(www.community.statefree.world), Statefree quickly expanded their scope of action to
the field of political advocacy in Germany and Europe to achieve substantive structural
changes at a political level. This submission is supported by Statefree’s work and
experience as the first organisation representing stateless persons in Germany as well
as Statefree’s close collaboration with individuals with lived experience.
4. The European Network on Statelessness (ENS)3 is a civil society alliance of NGOs,
lawyers, academics, and other independent experts committed to addressing
statelessness in Europe. Based in London, it currently has over 180 members in 41
European countries. ENS organises its work around three pillars – law and policy
development, awareness-raising, and capacity-building. ENS provides expert advice and
1
Dr Helena-Ulrike Marambio, individual member of the European Network on Statelessness, also contributed to this
submission.
2
For more information, see https://statefree.world.
3 For more information, see https://www.statelessness.eu.