Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council at the 38th Session of the Universal Periodic Review BELGIUM Introduction 1. NANSEN, 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 Belgium. 2. NANSEN is a centre of independent expertise on refugee law based in Brussels. Its mission is to develop and make available quality legal aid for all those in need of international protection so that their fundamental rights are effectively upheld. To achieve this objective, NANSEN combines technical legal expertise with an interdisciplinary approach to asylum. NANSEN was set up in 2017 by a group of lawyers and academics experienced in the field of refugee, human rights, and migration law.1 3. The European Network on Statelessness (ENS) 2 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 150 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 support to a range of stakeholders, including governments. This submission partially draws on information and analysis from ENS’s Statelessness Index, which covers Belgium.3 4. The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI) is the first and only human rights NGO dedicated to working on statelessness at the global level. ISI’s mission is to promote inclusive societies by realising and protecting everyone’s right to a nationality. The Institute has made over 70 country specific UPR submissions on the human rights of stateless persons, of which over 20 have been submitted in collaboration with the European Network on Statelessness. ISI has also compiled summaries of the key human rights challenges related to statelessness in all countries under review under the 23rd to the 36th UPR Sessions.4 1 For more information about NANSEN, see: https://nansen-refugee.be/en/. For more information about the European Network on Statelessness, see: www.statelessness.eu. 3 The Statelessness Index on Belgium can be accessed at: https://index.statelessness.eu/country/belgium 4 For more information see: www.institutesi.org 2 1