"Roma and other minoritized groups may be at risk of statelessness due to discrimination and other
factors. It is estimated that 10-20% of Romani people in Ukraine lack the civil documentation needed to
acquire or confirm their Ukrainian citizenship."
IOM, Regional Ukraine Response Situation Report #3, 9 March 2022
"Additionally, a group of Ukrainian Roma reported incidents of discrimination when fleeing Kharkiv
towards the Republic of Moldova. There are likely some 400,000 Roma people fleeing Ukraine, many of
whom do not have travel documents."
UN OCHA – UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Ukraine - Humanitarian Response Plan
2022, 11 February 2022
“Problems in civil documentation persist for the population in NGCA, facing multiple challenges in identity,
civil status and property documentation, impacting every aspect of life, limiting access to services and
entitlements and freedom of movement. This includes 68,240 children (as of mid-2021) residing in NGCA,
who do not possess a birth certificate of a recognized state and are hence under risk of statelessness.”
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
"Lack of documentation is a major risk factor for statelessness among Roma. In most cases, Roma have
the right to Ukrainian nationality under the Law, but without documents, they often cannot evidence their
right. Therefore, under the current national legal framework of Ukraine, a child born to undocumented
parents would inherit the lack of documentation, and, as a result, (risk of) statelessness."
European Network on Statelessness, Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, and European Roma Rights
Centre, Roma Belong: Statelessness, Discrimination and Marginalisation of Roma in the Western Balkans
and Ukraine, October 2017
"One of the key issues relating to the risk of statelessness among Roma populations highlighted by all
interviewees (state, non-state, and Roma), is access to civil status and identity documentation. Many
interviewees representing state authorities or international agencies were of the view that a lack of
information and awareness within Romani communities about the importance of documentation was one
of the key challenges. Furthermore, their responses often demonstrated stereotypical views of Roma,
including that Roma were ‘indifferent’ to being documented, or ‘avoided being in the system’, or that
their ‘traditional lifestyle’ made them responsible for their own lack of documentation. […] In contrast to
this official perspective, many Romani interviewees revealed both an awareness of the importance of
documentation and a strong desire to address their lack of documentation. However, they also described
a series of financial and bureaucratic challenges that they faced when trying to do so.
[…] In Ukraine, birth registration is also a challenge for undocumented Roma. In practice, undocumented
parents cannot register the birth of a child until their citizenship is established, or until they are issued
identity documents or they have documented proof of the legality of their stay in Ukraine. Additionally,
to proceed with birth registration, a medical certificate confirming the child’s birth, or in the case of a
birth outside of a medical institution, a document issued by a commission specifically created for this
purpose, is needed. In case no medical evidence can be provided, the parents must go before the court
to confirm the birth."
Foreign nationals
Al Jazeera, 'Russia-Ukraine War: Not all refugees treated the same' 8 July 2022
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