Overview of childhood statelessness in the OSCE region Estimates of stateless populations in the OSCE region Despite the complexities of measuring statelessness, as a reference point, available data included in the 2017 Handbook on Statelessness in the OSCE Area indicated that, at the end of 2015, there were at least 722,000 stateless people with no or unclear citizenship status in the OSCE area. UNHCR data received from States shows an estimated 483,947 stateless people in the OSCE region as of end-2024.45 However, there have been significant changes in the way some States measure and record statelessness, so the figures from 2015 and 2024 cannot be considered a like-for-like comparison. In addition, it is important to acknowledge that States differ in the way they collect and record this data, so it does not necessarily represent the same cohorts of people across countries. The data also likely underestimates the actual number of stateless people in many countries, as many people’s statelessness remains unrecorded, and there is no data available for some countries. There is also insufficient data disaggregated by age available for most countries, making it impossible to provide an accurate estimate of the number of stateless children in the OSCE area. Despite these issues, the efforts of many OSCE participating States since 2014 suggest that there has likely been a significant reduction in the number of stateless people residing in the OSCE region. Causes of statelessness In OSCE participating States, childhood statelessness has various causes; discriminatory laws and/or treatment are often the root cause. Discrimination may be related to ethnicity, political affiliation, or the status or a characteristic of a parent or parents, including gender (e.g., where nationality cannot transmit through women), immigration status, or marital status. Laws in some States discriminate against children in mixed-nationality families, children whose parents were not married and children born through surrogacy or assisted reproduction. Statelessness also arises in connection with colonization and de-colonization, occupation, the dissolution of States and gaps or contradictions in nationality legislation. Migration (often, but not necessarily, forced) is both a cause and consequence of statelessness; but statelessness also arises among national minorities and/or marginalized groups long residing in some OSCE participating States (in situ statelessness). Statelessness is sometimes more common for people in border areas, less-developed areas or remote regions, particularly where birth registration is not universal and there are challenges in proving place of birth and other details. Some marginalized 45 20 See Annex II, extrapolated from Annexes for Global and Mid-Year Trends 2024, UNHCR, data as of end-2024, Annex 1 - Populations protected and / or assisted by UNHCR by country/territory of asylum.; Data and statistics are also available at the UNHCR Refugee Data Finder.