Chapter 2. Europe and Statelessness Republic of Yugoslavia, a total of almost 10.000 stateless persons were reported in 2015, which has fallen just under 6.000 at the end of 2018. Others remain at risk of statelessness due to lack of key forms of documentation”.451 An issue to be mindful of in relation to statelessness in Europe relates back to the fact that statistics remain incomplete and to administration as discussed in paragraph 1.4.3. Not every person that is stateless is actually registered as such. A number of European countries register and report individuals as being ‘of unknown nationality’, which blurs the number of people that are truly stateless.452 One way to address this is to ensure that stateless people are properly identified using a statelessness determination procedure. A few European countries, such as France, Hungary, Latvia and Moldova, have dedicated statelessness determination procedures in law. Some countries have other types of determination procedures, but quite some of these are not capable of providing a proper framework for identification and protection due to procedural issues or lack of awareness. Furthermore, a number of European countries have no mechanism or status for the identification and protection of the stateless at all.453 Indeed, research has found that “states are largely failing to acknowledge the vulnerabilities associated with statelessness, [and] to put in place effective procedures to identify statelessness and to protect stateless people”, also leading to states’ failure to prevent the stateless from being arbitrarily detained around Europe.454 Persistent challenges thus remain with regard to the identification of stateless people, the adoption of statelessness determination procedures and preventing arbitrary detention of stateless people. When considering the aforementioned numbers of stateless people in Europe in conjunction with the examples of state succession discussed above in paragraph 2.6, the four countries with the largest numbers of stateless people within their borders according to current data are all formerly part of the USSR. Hence, we can conclude that state succession is the main cause of statelessness in Europe. Indeed, when considering literature on the matter it is demonstrated that “[i]n Europe, causes linked to state succession and restoration have been especially prominent”.455 Keeping in mind the dynamic history of Europe with shifting borders and states appearing, disappearing and/or reappearing that is perhaps not surprising. 451 452 453 454 455 ISI, The World’s Stateless: Deprivation of Nationality (ISI 2020) 91–92. ISI, The World’s Stateless (Wolf Legal Publishers 2014) 103. ENS, ‘Statelessness Index Thematic Briefi ng: Statelessness Determination and Protection in Europe: Good Practice, Challenges and Risks’ (ENS 2021) <https://www.statelessness.eu/sites/default/ fi les/2021–09/ENS-Statelessness_determination_and_protection_in_Europe-Sep_2021.pdf> accessed 26 September 2021. ENS, ‘Protecting Stateless Persons from Arbitrary Detention: An Agenda for Change’ (ENS 2017) <https://www.statelessness.eu/sites/www.statelessness.eu/fi les/attachments/resources/ENS_ LockeInLimbo_Detention_Agenda_online.pdf> accessed 3 January 2022; see also UNHCR, ‘Stateless Persons in Detention: A Tool for Their Identification and Enhanced Protection’ (UNHCR 2017) <https://www.refworld.org/docid/598adacd4.html> accessed 3 January 2022. Olivier Vonk, Maarten Vink and Gerard-René de Groot, Protection Against Statelessness: Trends and Regulations in Europe’ (GLOBALCIT, EUDO Citizenship Observatory, Country Reports, 2013/01) 11 <http://cadmus.eui.eu//handle/1814/30201> accessed 22 August 2021. Intersentia 83