Applying the statelessness provisions in the EU Pact on Migration & Asylum May 2026 Why are the statelessness provisions so important? For the more than 10 million stateless people around the world, statelessness can mean denial of many basic rights most people take for granted. In Europe, statelessness affects over half a million people including recent migrants and those who have lived in the same place for generations. Statelessness is often intertwined with other root causes of forced displacement, such as the persecution of ethnic, religious, or other members of minority groups, armed conflicts, and discrimination. Among the stateless people living in Europe today are individuals who arrived seeking international protection and were either stateless prior to leaving their country of origin or have since become stateless. According to Eurostat, on average, around 2% of first-time asylum applicants to the European Economic Area each year are recorded as being stateless or of ‘unknown nationality’. This is very likely an underestimate due to the limited awareness, capacity, and tools to accurately identify and record statelessness in the migratory context to date. A high proportion of refugees come from countries (such as Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Somalia, and Sudan, among others) where, as a result of discrimination in nationality laws, State succession, or deprivation of nationality practices, they or their children may be stateless or have undetermined nationality. The fact that an asylum applicant may be stateless is often critical when assessing their claim for international protection. Whether someone is stateless or a national of their country of origin not only impacts on the decision-making process, but also on the nationality rights of their children, and access to procedures such as family reunification, resettlement, or naturalisation because they are unlikely to have documentary proof of their identity and family links. It also has a significant impact on an individual’s ability to return to a country of former residence. The failure to identify and determine statelessness can therefore lead to unlawful detention and futile and costly attempts to enforce return. Stateless people are due specific rights under international law and risk further discrimination and rights violations if their statelessness is not identified and acted upon. What steps have been taken to implement the statelessness provisions? regional Guidance, tools, and training The European Commission’s Common Implementation Plan and Operational Checklist emphasised that Member States must assess, and if necessary, address their capacity to identify and assist persons with vulnerabilities across all screening and border procedures, including under the new provisions requiring identification of indications of statelessness in the Screening Regulation (Article 12(3-4)). The Commission has helpfully clarified that wherever vulnerability is referenced in the Pact instruments, this should be taken to include (indications of) statelessness. This means that authorities are obliged to consider the specific profile of stateless applicants not just in vulnerability checks under the Screening Regulation, but across all processes and procedures. They should take positive steps to ensure non-discrimination and protection of the rights of stateless persons, recognising the inherent difficulties they may face. It is unclear what further guidance has been produced by the Commission for Member States on how to implement the statelessness provisions during Screening and relevant procedures, as this guidance is not currently publicly available. The publicly available Commission State of Play Reports on the Pact do not refer to the statelessness provisions in any detail.