Literature review and mapping study: risks of statelessness among
the children of refugees in Europe, July 2020
By Alison Harvey, No5 Chambers and ENS Individual Member
Table of Contents
1. Aims of this paper .................................................................................................. 2
2. Overview of existing evidence, research, and theories ............................................ 2
3. Existing evidence .................................................................................................... 2
3.1 Accounts of, and documentation held by, individual refugees, people seeking
asylum, people refused asylum, and other migrants ........................................................ 3
3.2 Quantitative information ............................................................................................. 5
3.3 Law reports and individual unreported cases ........................................................... 11
3.4 State level information and investigations ................................................................ 14
3.5 Reports of IGOs and NGOs, including refugee community organisations ................. 15
3.6 Academic .................................................................................................................... 16
3.7 Press reports and social media .................................................................................. 17
4. Gaps in the evidence and analysis ........................................................................ 17
4.1 Reflections and experiences of parents of stateless refugee children and stateless
refugee children ............................................................................................................... 17
4.2 Material in languages other than English .................................................................. 17
4.3 Nexus with trafficking ................................................................................................ 17
4.4 Older children ............................................................................................................ 18
4.5 Refugee family reunion .............................................................................................. 19
5. Filling gaps in the evidence and analysis ............................................................... 19
6. Communicating more clearly and effectively ........................................................ 20
7. Developing concrete and measurable policy and legal solutions ........................... 20
7.1 Safe participatory research ........................................................................................ 20
7.2 Identifying children .................................................................................................... 21
7.3 A nationality for every child identified ...................................................................... 21
7.4 Birth registration ........................................................................................................ 22
8. Key findings relevant to the production of a framework and methodology ........... 23
Annex 1 Existing ENS Recommendations ..................................................................... 26
Annex 2 Acknowledgements ....................................................................................... 30
Annex 3 Select Literature ............................................................................................ 32
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