approach to treatment of COVID-19, there is an obvious danger of late diagnosis caused by the absence of primary medical care to stateless people." UNHCR, Ukraine – 2020 year-end report – Population trends, 2020 "During 2020, UNHCR identified 21 unaccompanied and separated children. Overall, the recognition rate in 2020 was 24% compared to 21% in 2019 with 32% of recognized refugees receiving refugee status compared to 44% in 2019, Ukraine having acceded to the 1954 and 1961 statelessness conventions in 2013. The authorities have not yet implemented a statelessness determination procedure hence there were no changes in the number of registered stateless people (some 5,800 out of the estimated 35,875 stateless). This estimate is considered to be significantly lower than the actual stateless population in Ukraine. The census, which was expected to provide updated data on statelessness, has been postponed. In Ukraine, migrants and members of the Roma ethnic minority and people lacking birth registration are at heightened risk of statelessness and may face discrimination. An estimated 65,000 babies born in NGCA lack Ukrainian-issued birth certificates and may be at risk of statelessness. This number rose 30% in 2020 because of the prolonged closure of the EECPs which prevented parents from entering GCA to register their babies." UNHCR, Ukraine – Stateless persons in Ukraine, 2020 "Undocumented people do not receive attention from the authorities. Because they lack documentation, they cannot benefit from the services provided by the state-run free legal system and heavily rely on UNHCR’s legal assistance, which remains limited in scope. Stateless people and people with undetermined nationality usually come from vulnerable and marginalized groups, such as Roma, homeless people, migrants, and people released from penitentiaries. The existing procedures to obtain documents are timeconsuming and costly, involving payment of administrative fines for irregular stay in Ukraine or of consular fees when a person has links to several countries, as well as court fees. In 2020, the assistance provided by UNHCR to people with undetermined nationality was complicated by the fact that the Government of Ukraine adopted restrictive measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, including strict quarantine; Government services were not available for several months and court hearings were also significantly delayed. Compared to other Ukrainian citizens, IDPs and residents of non-governmentcontrolled areas (NGCA) and Crimea face numerous extra requirements and barriers in obtaining or renewing their identification documents. When applying for issuing or renewal of their passport, they must undergo additional verification of their data in available electronic or paper archives." European Network on Statelessness, New #RomaBelong research documents the effects of statelessness on Roma living in Ukraine and sets recommendation on how to tackle it, 28 September 2018 "Patterns of statelessness in Ukraine indicate that it most often affects specific groups of the population and that inadequate and inconsistent legislation exacerbate the problem. In general, Ukrainian legislation on citizenship is based on the principle of jus sanguinis, but those who could prove permanent residence at the time of independence in 1991, were given the possibility to acquire citizenship rights. However, those who did not have permanent residence in Ukraine as of 1991 or don’t have the documents to prove their residence, are often at risk of statelessness." UNHCR, Ukraine – 2018 year-end report – Population trends, 2018 "Migrants and ethnic minorities, such as the Roma, are at heightened risk of statelessness because they may face discrimination, lack birth registration or other identity documents, and/or have ties to multiple post-Soviet countries." UNHCR, Ukraine – Stateless persons in Ukraine, 2017 65