THEMATIC BRIEFING: October 2025 Statelessness determination and protection in Europe: good practice, challenges and risks have not yet led to concrete progress towards introducing an SDP. The new government in Austria has included a commitment to evaluate the introduction of an SDP in their five-year policy program. Most countries in the Index that do not have a procedure to determine statelessness have other routes through which stateless people may regularise their stay (e.g. Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden). This is usually in the context of an application for asylum, a residence permit, or acquisition of nationality, but there is no obligation on the authorities to consider statelessness, and regularisation rarely leads to any rights linked to statelessness per se. The protection available therefore depends on the rights attached to the type of residence or protection status an individual can acquire and is usually not in line with the 1954 Convention and international human rights law. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malta, and North Macedonia, there are other routes to regularisation for some stateless people, but there are no mechanisms with the aim to identify statelessness beyond the ad hoc possibility of recording someone as stateless during international protection procedures or procedures to grant residence on humanitarian grounds. In Serbia, a statelessness status is established in law, granting some specific rights to stateless people. However, there is no procedure to determine or regulate this status or statelessness determination is only done in ad hoc and time-specific procedures, so stateless people on the territory face significant barriers to accessing the rights they are due under national and international law. A group of Index countries (Germany, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia), provide that people recognised as stateless who cannot be returned to another country may be issued with a ‘tolerated stay’ permit, which is usually of short duration (six months to two years) but renewable. Some rights may be granted, for example, to work or basic social assistance, education, and healthcare, but rights are generally restricted and not in line with the treatment afforded to stateless people under the 1954 Convention and international human rights law. 3.11. Good practice beyond Europe Many countries around the world have implemented SDPs that lead to a dedicated protection status, and Latin America in particular has led the way in introducing protection mechanisms for stateless people. There are currently 16 countries outside Europe with SDPs (10 of them in Latin America).64 Some examples of good and developing practice include: Brazil: Brazil is party to the 1954 Convention, has a definition of a stateless person in law in line with the 1954 Convention, and established an SDP and a procedure for facilitated naturalisation. There are no exclusion clauses for the SDP, but applicants must have no criminal record in the past five years. Applicants must be physically present in Brazil, but lawful stay is not required and there is no penalty for irregular entry. Applications can be submitted online or at federal police units nationwide, and applicants are granted temporary stay during the process. The burden of proof is shared, interviews are conducted (although interpreters are not provided by law), and free legal aid is available for those who cannot afford it. There is a right of appeal and removal is suspended during the application and appeal. Recognised stateless people receive a permanent residence permit, the right to work, education, and family reunification. Naturalisation is facilitated after two years of residence, with fee waivers and document flexibility available when need. 65 Costa Rica: Costa Rica was the first country in the Americas to ratify both the 1954 and 1961 Conventions (in 1977), establish an SDP (in 2016), and provide facilitated naturalisation (in 2017). The SDP refers to the 1954 Convention definition and includes similar exclusion clauses. Applications can be submitted in writing (online or in person), orally, or via a legal representative. If authorities identify a potentially stateless person, they must notify the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which informs the individual of their right to apply. Applicants are allowed to stay during the procedure and receive documentation confirming this, and there is no penalty for irregular entry. Interviews are conducted, and if interpretation is needed but unaffordable, the government 27