THEMATIC BRIEFING | JULY 2021 Deprivation of nationality and the prevention of statelessness in Europe 3 1. INTRODUCTION Most people regard their nationality as a secure legal status. However, in the recent past, deprivation of nationality has become increasingly prevalent. Nationality plays a key role in protecting an individual from arbitrary State power and securing access to rights. As such, depriving a person of their nationality weakens their ability to enjoy fundamental rights and to access the most basic services, puts them at risk of statelessness and social exclusion, and exposes them to expulsion from the territory. This briefing summarises how law, policy, and practice in the 27 countries featured in the Statelessness Index perform against international norms and good practice on deprivation of nationality. It describes the relationship between deprivation of nationality and the prevention of statelessness, provides an overview of norms and good practices on deprivation of nationality, and presents a state of play analysis using data from the Statelessness Index. It highlights categories of nationals who are disproportionately affected by deprivation of nationality and suggests key action areas to protect the right to a nationality and prevent statelessness in Europe. Stateless person A stateless person is someone ‘who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law’.3 This definition is part of customary international law and has been authoritatively interpreted by UNHCR as requiring ‘a mixed question of fact and law’.4 Person at risk of statelessness A person who is not stateless but is at risk of becoming so, a person whose statelessness has not yet been determined but there are indications that they may be stateless, or a person whose statelessness may become evident over time. Hidden statelessness can come to light in an immigration detention context, as well as at different stages in migration or international protection procedures. Nationality Nationality refers to the legal bond between an individual and a State. Each State is competent to determine who is considered a national under its law, in compliance with international law. For the purposes of this briefing, citizenship and nationality are synonymous. Deprivation of nationality For the purposes of this briefing, deprivation of nationality refers to any loss, withdrawal, or denial of nationality that was not voluntarily requested by the individual. Renunciation of nationality Renunciation of nationality refers to the voluntary loss of nationality.