Country briefing: Statelessness and refugees in Greece • Birth registration Naturalisation • • • • The Hellenic Police manage 8 pre-removal detention centres (2 on the islands and 6 on the mainland) and places of police custody, and carry out returns Health services (e.g. hospital of birth) Civil registry office Municipality and Regional Authorities officials receive the application Ministry of Interior makes the decision WHAT ARE THE PRIORITY AREAS FOR ACTION TO ADDRESS STATELESSNESS IN THE GREEK CONTEXT? • • • • • • • Procedural clarity and clear guidance is required to support accurate identification, registration and recording of statelessness and nationality problems among new arrivals Capacity-building and resources are required for key actors involved in the refugee response Information on rights is required in formats and languages accessible to affected individuals and communities on the ground A dedicated Statelessness Determination Procedure should be established to enable Greece to meet its international obligations under the 1954 Convention and reduce the risk of arbitrary detention Accurate birth registration must be guaranteed for all children born in Greece irrespective of the status of their parents, and the child’s right to a nationality upheld in practice Safeguards in Greek nationality law must be implemented in practice to prevent childhood statelessness arising from the current refugee context in Greece A facilitated route to naturalisation should be implemented in line with the 1954 Convention STATELESSNESS: THE BASICS A stateless person is defined in the 1954 Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons and international customary law as "a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law". It is someone who does not have a nationality of any country. Some people are born stateless, while others become stateless over the course of their lives. Although stateless people may sometimes also be refugees, the two categories are distinct in international law. Some of the main causes of statelessness are gaps in nationality laws, discrimination, forced displacement, state succession, restrictive administrative practices, and arbitrary deprivation of nationality. Statelessness is a hidden problem due to the lack of reliable data on stateless populations. UNHCR reports figures for only 3.9 million of the estimated 10 million stateless people around the world in its Global Trends Report 2017. Being affected by statelessness often means not having a birth certificate or any other legal documentation, not having or being able to pass on a nationality to your children, not being able to access formal education and other services, not being able to travel, and facing many more legal and administrative barriers. To be stateless is often to be ‘legally invisible’. 5