Addressing statelessness in Europe’s refugee response person’s identity and/or nationality can impact negatively on the assessment of credibility. Where statelessness is identified, a claim that is based significantly on an individual’s statelessness may not be perceived by States as grounds to grant asylum or may delay the determination procedure as decision makers lack the relevant necessary expertise. Detention Statelessness being missed or inadequately addressed in international protection procedures may increase the risk of prolonged or arbitrary detention. The nature of statelessness can mean that a stateless person has no country to which they can return. If a person’s statelessness has not been identified, they can end up subjected to repeated and prolonged detention and removal proceedings. This practice appears to be widespread and was reported in several countries. The assumption on the part of the authorities that someone can be removed even where their nationality is unknown or imputed, has a significant impact on the potential for prolonged and/or unlawful or arbitrary detention. Additionally, even where statelessness is recorded, the lack of understanding about the implications of this among officials may mean that individuals remain at risk, as States may continue to subject them to futile removal attempts regardless. In some cases, children can also be subjected to prolonged immigration detention. The child’s right to nationality Nationality problems being missed or inadequately addressed heightens the risk of children being born stateless in Europe. Many European countries do not have full safeguards in their nationality law to prevent childhood statelessness. viii The risk to children of refugees born in exile is particularly acute as they may be unable to prove where they were born or who their parents are, essential for establishing nationality. The failure to identify and register nationality problems leads to States being unaware or not accepting that a child born on their territory may be stateless. Children may be incorrectly assigned a parent’s nationality at birth without verifying whether parents can confer their nationality, or whether the child has a right to the nationality of the country of birth if they would otherwise be stateless. Several countries reported issues relating to the child’s right to nationality, including lack of awareness among officials of conflicting nationality laws, or gender discrimination preventing conferral of nationality, lack of legal safeguards to grant nationality to otherwise stateless children born on the territory, and inconsistent implementation of these safeguards. Routes to naturalisation Stateless people cannot meet the requirements for naturalisation or there is no facilitated route to naturalisation for stateless people. Challenges in accessing naturalisation procedures were reported in several countries. Certain documents may be required to be eligible for naturalisation and there may be no flexibility on the part of officials for individuals who cannot provide these. For example, a birth certificate, passport or proof of renunciation of a former nationality may be required for naturalisation. Even if statelessness is identified, unachievable conditions are at times enforced. Additionally, general eligibility criteria such as documentation required or cost for the procedure may be very difficult for 4