In the first half of 2012, the number of stateless persons seeking asylum in Norway was 124 (compared to 131 in
the first half of 2011).77 During the first half of 2012, stateless applicants were the ninth largest group of asylum
applicants. Among the 124 stateless persons who applied for asylum in the first half of 2012, 70 persons were
male adults and 10 were applying as unaccompanied male children. There were 21 stateless female asylumseekers and no unaccompanied female children registered as stateless. The number of children accompanied
by an adult was 23. The number of unaccompanied children in the first half-year of 2012 was in line with the
relatively low number of stateless, unaccompanied minors indicated in Table 4.
Table 4: Unaccompanied stateless (claimed) children seeking asylum (2002-2011)78
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Stateless
12
18
4
11
3
3
9
18
27
13
Total
894
916
424
322
349
403
1,374
2 500
892
858
Upon request, UDI provided a further specification of the countries of origin of stateless asylum-seekers.
According to its data, 45 stateless asylum-seekers in the first half of 2012 came from Palestine (the West Bank
or Gaza), 32 came from Iraq, 23 from Syria, 4 from Lebanon, 4 from Kuwait, 3 from the Russian Federation, 3
from Thailand, 2 from Western-Sahara and 1 from the Czech Republic.79 Although these figures only partially
account for the origins of stateless asylum applicants in Norway, they give an indication of the origins of
the stateless asylum applicants. It information also confirms that the majority of stateless asylum applicants
appear to be of Palestinian origin.
The rate of positive decisions for stateless persons indicated in Table 5 for 2011 was 39 percent, which was
substantially lower than the overall rate of 51 percent. A further breakdown showing the rate of rejections or
positive decisions on asylum applications by stateless persons by country of origin could not be produced
for this study.
Table 5: First instance (UDI) decisions on protection (asylum) of stateless applicants by outcome, 201180
Nationality of
applicants
Total number
of cases
(decisions)
Convention
refugee
(asylum)
Other refugee Humanitarian
status
grounds
Rejected Percentage
granted
residence
Stateless
432
30
2
90
191
39%
Total number of
decisions in 2011
10,493
2,810
766
439
3,813
51%
It must be noted that Table 5 does not include decisions in which an asylum-seeker was returned in accordance
with the Dublin regulation, nor other formal rejections, such as when a person applies from abroad. Nor does
the table include the number of applications withdrawn before a decision was made.
77
Email from Marie Hesselberg, dated 22 August 2012.
78
UDI, Annual Report 2011, Table 15: Asylum-seekers, unaccompanied minors, according to citizenship, 2002–2011 (includes everyone
claiming to be an unaccompanied minor when seeking asylum).
79
Email from Marie Hesselberg, dated 22 August 2012. It is important to note that the information about origin only covers 117
persons and thus the origin of seven persons is not covered. According to UDI those are most likely to have been born in Norway,
email from Marie Hesselberg, dated 6 September 2012.
80
UDI, Annual report 2011, Table 16: Decisions on protection (asylum) according to citizenship and result.
UNHCR STOCKHOLM, OCTOBER 2015
21