Executive Summary The purpose of this paper is to present issues related to statelessness within South Eastern Europe in a regional context, drawing on the shared history of the States that were part of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (former SFRY) and highlighting the similarities and differences they face today in their national legal and administrative frameworks with respect to stateless persons and persons at risk of statelessness. This report includes Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia (and Kosovo: SCR 1244).1 Accession to the key international and regional treaties related to statelessness is important for the protection of stateless persons and the reduction of statelessness. All the countries covered in this report have succeeded to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. Bosnia and Herzegovina has acceded to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, while Croatia and Serbia both were in the process of completing the accessions procedures for this Convention at the time of completion of this study. UNHCR strongly encourages all the remaining States in the region to accede to this important Convention, noting that provisions related to the acquisition of citizenship and the prevention and reduction of statelessness found in national citizenship legislation in Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia already generally conform to the provisions in the 1961 Convention. In addition, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have ratified the Council of Europe’s 1997 European Convention on Nationality and Montenegro has ratified the Council of Europe’s 2006 Convention on the Avoidance of Statelessness in Relation to State Succession. UNHCR encourages all States to accede to these regional Conventions as well. Within South Eastern Europe two key groups of persons need to be considered for a discussion on statelessness. The first is people who are recognized as stateless 2 in accordance with legislation on foreigners in the national frameworks. While there are no formalized statelessness determination procedures within the region, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have all recognized stateless persons through ad hoc mechanisms. All these States have incorporated some basic protections for stateless persons into national law. The second group, which is the principle focus of this paper mostly focuses on, is people who are mainly at risk of statelessness 3 due, in part, to historical factors such as the 1 References to the authorities, citizenship and Kosovo laws shall be understood within the context of Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999). UNHCR operates under the SCR 1244 and maintains status neutrality with respect to the UDI. 2 In this report, a stateless person is understood as someone who in line with Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons is not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law; see also UNHCR, Expert Meeting - The Concept of Stateless Persons under International Law (Summary Conclusions), May 2010. 3 The term ‘At risk of statelessness’ used in this paper refers to persons who have difficulties providing proof that they meet the requirements set by law for acquisition of nationality. This means that they are at 4