“The issue of statelessness has been very absent in the migration and asylum debate and there are significant knowledge gaps that must be addressed.” Nina Murray European Network on Statelessness S tatelessness is a cause and consequence of displacement. Discrimination can escalate to violence and persecution, resulting in forced migration. Without access to identity/travel documentation, it’s difficult for the stateless to cross borders, forcing the use of irregular migration channels and putting them at heightened risk of human trafficking. For migrants and refugees with a nationality, the connection to that country of nationality can become tenuous or break, especially if displacement lasts several generations and children born in exile struggle to secure a nationality as a result of conflicts of laws, bureaucratic obstacles or policies of exclusion. Ensuring statelessness is adequately identified and addressed in a mixed migration context therefore presents a distinct challenge, but one that has not always received the attention it deserves. The inclusion of language on statelessness in the New York Declaration and both the Global Compacts on Refugees and on Migration may help to prompt a deeper conversation about what is needed to take on this challenge. Grand Challenge 5 Addressing Statelessness in Mixed Migration Context Moderator: Beth Fernandez Sigrid Rausing Trust Panelists: Álvaro Botero UN Committee on Migrant Workers Michelle Foster Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness / University of Melbourne Nina Murray European Network on Statelessness Grand Challenge 5 ‘Addressing Statelessness in Mixed Migration Context’ explored the peculiarities of, and possible responses to, statelessness in a mixed migration setting. The speakers provided valuable insight into the gaps in statelessness protection within the contexts of West Africa, Europe and Latin America. In the context of Latin America, the specific and urgent issue of the risk of statelessness for Colombian-born children of Venezuelan parents was raised. In Europe, a key problem was the continuing lack of appropriate frameworks to identify and protect stateless persons, with one consequence being the practice of recording stateless refugees as having an ‘unknown nationality’ without initiating further investigations to establish statelessness. Across the different geographic contexts, a shared concern expressed by panellists was the substantial knowledge gaps regarding statelessness within the contexts of migration and asylum. The need to build capacity and improve access to information was emphasised as crucial to building a more informed response. The panellists discussed a number of other necessary measures and presented some ideas for creative solutions including the better implementation of the 1951 Refugee Convention; using a more contemporary understanding of human rights law; and that although hugely overlooked, consular assistance can play a really important role in addressing statelessness in migratory contexts and should be implemented. They also emphasised the need to recognise that in-situ statelessness and statelessness in migratory contexts may require 17