BRIEFING: Stateless people and people at risk of statelessness from Ukraine
10 March 2022
6.
Recommendations
ENS makes the following recommendations to the EU, European States, international
agencies, NGOs, and all those involved in the refugee response to ensure that stateless
people and those at risk of statelessness from Ukraine can access protection in line with
international law:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
The EU should extend eligibility for temporary protection to all stateless persons and
persons at risk of statelessness who are/were living in Ukraine, regardless of
documentation or residence status. EU Member States should use their discretion
under the TPD to extend Temporary Protection to all stateless persons and those at
risk of statelessness regardless of prior residence status in Ukraine and/or ensure
access to equivalent forms of protection under national law.
European States should ensure that lack of identity documents or other
documentation does not prevent stateless people and people at risk of statelessness
from accessing international protection or other forms of protection under national
law.
European States should ensure access to protection and rights for stateless people on
their territory in line with their obligations under the UN Convention Relating to the
Status of Stateless Persons 1954, and implement safeguards to prevent arbitrary
detention.
Refugee response actors should take steps to identify and record statelessness as
accurately as possible to ensure access to adequate protection, and assistance and
services, including legal advice, and improve the availability of disaggregated data,
using standardised guidelines and assessment tools at registration points, in
protection procedures, and during legal counselling.
Refugee response actors should identify and monitor statelessness and risk of
statelessness among unaccompanied and separated children, as well as children born
in transit and host countries, to ensure their right to a birth certificate, legal identity,
and nationality is guaranteed.
Where to find more information and advice:
European Network on Statelessness:
https://www.statelessness.eu/statelessness-ukraine-crisis
Information provided by ENS members and partners working in Ukraine, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania,
and Slovakia, and accurate as of 10 March 2022. This includes Right2Protection Ukraine, Hungarian Helsinki
Committee, Law Center of Advocates, Halina Nieć Legal Aid Center (HNLAC), JRS Romania and Human Rights
League Slovakia and Aleksejs Ivashuk.
i