ISSUE 2 – Liberty and security of the person and arbitrary detention 19. Stateless people face a heightened risk of arbitrary detention particularly where procedural safeguards to identify and determine statelessness and related barriers to removal are lacking.22 Moreover, arbitrary and disproportionately lengthy detention can ensue when the particular vulnerabilities of stateless people are not addressed.23 20. In Belgium, there is no dedicated mechanism in place to identify stateless persons or persons at risk of statelessness in detention, yet there is systematic detention of people seeking international protection at the border, including on grounds of statelessness. 24 There is no mechanism in place to assess vulnerability prior to the detention decision and statelessness is not mentioned among the categories of vulnerable persons in the Immigration Law. As such, stateless persons may face prolonged periods of detention and/or repeated detention. In practice, no alternatives are considered prior to detention. There is no automatic review of detention, but the person can initiate a procedure before the court to challenge detention and has access to legal aid. However, the court can only examine the lawfulness of the detention, and not whether it is an appropriate measure. If released from detention, stateless persons will not be granted a temporary residence permit and will likely receive an order to leave the territory. They are not entitled to any protection, except for access to urgent medical care. 21. The Belgian Government should take steps to protect stateless people from arbitrary detention, including introducing a mechanism to identify (risk of) statelessness during the decision to detain, implementing a thorough assessment of vulnerability, 25 and ensuring the appropriateness of alternative measures in each individual case. 26 The Belgian authorities should improve the identification of people at risk of statelessness in removal procedures and detention centres, including through staff training, and ensure access to the statelessness determination procedure. ISSUE 3 – Children’s right to a nationality 22. The right to a nationality is a right that is ‘essential for the protection of every child’. 27 As signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Belgium must implement Article 7 to provide for the right of every child to be registered immediately after birth and acquire a nationality, and Article 8 to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, in compliance with its obligations under relevant international instruments. As a State party to the 1961 Convention, Belgium has further 22 European Network on Statelessness, Protecting Stateless Persons from Arbitrary Detention: An Agenda for Change, 2017 https://www.statelessness.eu/sites/www.statelessness.eu/files/attachments/resources/ENS_LockeInLimbo_Detention_Agend a_online.pdf 23 European Network on Statelessness, Protecting Stateless Persons from Arbitrary Detention: A regional toolkit for practitioners, 2017 https://www.statelessness.eu/sites/www.statelessness.eu/files/ENS_Detention_Toolkit.pdf 24 For more information, please visit http://index.statelessness.eu/country/belgium. 25 Directive 2008/115/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on common standards and procedures in Member States for returning illegally staying third-country nationals (EU Returns Directive), Article16(3). 26 ICCPR, Article 9; UN General Assembly, Protection of migrants: resolution adopted by the General Assembly, 17 March 2009, A/RES/63/184, para. 9; UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, 2014, para. 113. 27 UNHCR (2018) Ensuring the right of all children to acquire a nationality: Connecting the Dots between the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness: https://www.refworld.org/docid/52206aa54.html 6