Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council at the 43rd Session of the Universal Periodic Review ROMANIA Introduction 1. The Jesuit Refugee Service – Romania (JRS), 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 Romania. 2. The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Romania1 was founded in February 2000 being officially registered as a foundation in Romania, as part of the JRS network. JRS currently works more than 50 countries, including Romania, and aims to help refugees and other displaced persons regain their dignity. JRS Romania accompanies refugees and stateless persons in building their lives in Romania, including through activities such as taking them to appointments, offering counselling, and referring them to needed services. 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. Established in 2012, it currently has over 170 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 Romania.3 4. The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI)4 is the first and only human rights NGO dedicated to working on statelessness at the global level, established in 2014. ISI’s mission is to promote inclusive societies by realising and protecting everyone’s right to a nationality. The Institute has made over 90 country specific UPR submissions on the human rights of stateless persons. ISI has also compiled summaries of the key human rights challenges related to statelessness in all countries under review under the 23rd to the 41st UPR Sessions. 5. This submission focuses on: I. Children’s right to a nationality II. Statelessness determination and access to rights III. The protection of stateless people previously living in Ukraine 1 For more information, see https://jrs.net/en/home/. For more information, see https://www.statelessness.eu. 3 ENS, Statelessness Index: Romania, https://index.statelessness.eu/country/romania. 4 For more information, see https://www.institutesi.org/. 2 1