9. Germany has international obligations to fulfil the right to a nationality and protect the rights of stateless persons based on other UN and regional treaties to which it is a party. These include, among others: 10 ● International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 24.3) ● International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Articles. 2.2 and article 3) ● Convention of the Rights of the Child (Articles 2, 3, 7 and 8) ● Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Article 9) ● International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Article 5(d)(iii)) ● Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Article 18) ● International Convention for the Protection of All persons from Enforced Disappearance (Article 25.4) Furthermore, the right to a nationality is included in Article 15 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. 10. Germany is party to the European Convention on Nationality but retains reservations permitting loss of nationality in certain circumstances (Article 10). It has signed but not acceded to the Convention on the Avoidance of Statelessness in Relation to State Succession. Snapshot of Statelessness in Germany 11. Population data in Germany is comprehensive, including on statelessness, but without a dedicated procedure to identify and determine statelessness, estimates for the stateless population remain inaccurate. The Federal Statistical Office publishes a wide range of statistics. A ‘stateless’ category is included but there are also overlapping categories, such as ‘unclear nationality’, ‘without indication’, and ‘Palestinian’. As of the end of 2022, there were 29,455 recorded stateless people in Germany and 97,150 people listed as having ‘unclear’ (ungeklärt) nationality or ‘without indication’ (ohne Angabe).11 In 2021, 1,355 stateless people were naturalised, and nationality was granted to 750 other people with ‘unclear nationality’ or ‘without indication’.12 UNHCR reports 28,941 stateless people as of mid-2022.13 The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees regularly publishes asylum statistics, and parliament has undertaken inquiries into stateless refugees and asylum seekers, including on detention. The current statistics (as of end 2021) show that 5,865 stateless people held a settlement permit, 845 were granted ‘tolerated stay’ (‘Duldung’)14, 645 held a temporary residence permit (‘Aufenthaltsgestattung’), and 1,055 stayed without any residence permit (‘Aufenthaltstitel’), tolerated stay or temporary residence permit. Figures for the number of people with ‘unclear’ or ‘without indication’ state the following: 8,920 were 10 See United Nations Treaty Collection. Statistisches Bundesamt, Press release Nr. 091, 9 March 2023, available at: https://www.destatis.de/EN/Press/2023/03/PE23_091_125.html. 12 These figures rely on the GENESIS-Online Datenbank, which is the main database of the Statistische Bundesamt. Its data relies on the Central Register of Foreigners (Ausländerzentralregisters – AZR), available at: https://wwwgenesis.destatis.de/genesis/online?operation=abruftabelleBearbeiten&levelindex=1&levelid=1640620736070&auswahloperati on=abruftabelleAuspraegungAuswaehlen&auswahlverzeichnis=ordnungsstruktur&auswahlziel=werteabruf&code=124110009&auswahltext=&werteabruf=Werteabruf#abreadcrumb. 13 UNHCR, Refugee Data Finder, available at: https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/download/?url=80PunF. 14 A tolerated stay refers to a lawful stay with exceptional leave to remain. 11 2