3. Trafficking as a factor increasing risk of statelessness Trafficking does not only exploit existing vulnerabilities, but it also creates new ones, including a heightened risk of statelessness. Traffickers often confiscate, destroy, or withhold identity documents, and victims may not be in control of their lives for long periods of time, which could lead to them being unable to renew documents and prove their links to a country of origin or former habitual residence. Loss of contact with family members and/or loss of proof of links to a country of origin can make it difficult to (re)obtain the documentation required to prove or acquire nationality. Leaving victims with unknown or undetermined nationality for prolonged periods of time undermines their protection and increases the risk of statelessness. These risks are particularly acute for child victims of trafficking, who may grow up without any documentation or a formal record of their place of birth or parents, or may have missed crucial deadlines to confirm or acquire a nationality. Such gaps can place these children at risk of being unable to ever confirm or acquire a nationality, with severe and long-lasting consequences for their rights and protection if left unaddressed. Unaccompanied minors are a group at particular risk, as they are already recognised as vulnerable both to trafficking and to the risk of statelessness, yet limited attention has been given to how these vulnerabilities may compound in practice.15 Determining children’s nationality, or supporting them to acquire a nationality as soon as possible, must be understood as a core part of re‑establishing their identity, ensuring access to fundamental rights during childhood, and determining a safe and sustainable solution in their best interests in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is therefore essential that responses to trafficking proactively consider the right to a nationality and prevention and reduction of statelessness for all victims, irrespective of whether they have crossed an international border. Establishing the child’s legal identity and whether they have a nationality should form part of identification, risk assessment, protection, and support provision with specialist legal assistance provided and referral to the competent authorities responsible for statelessness and nationality determination if required to resolve any nationality issues or indications of statelessness identified. Recommendations to identify and protect stateless children in and from trafficking situations In addition to the known challenges in identifying victims of human trafficking, awareness and capacity to identify and record statelessness among people arriving in Europe have also often been limited or inconsistent, including practices such as imputing nationality, or the prolonged use of ‘unknown’ or ‘undetermined’ nationality in official data, as well as due to a lack of tools and guidance for relevant frontline officials to identify indications of statelessness, including among victims of human trafficking. For people already within Europe, a related concern is the limited availability of routes to regularisation. Only a small number of European States have procedures in place to determine statelessness on their territory, and even where such procedures exist, some do not lead to Sophie Nonnenmacher and Ryszard Cholewinski, ‘The nexus between statelessness and migration’. In: Edwards A, van Waas L, editors. Nationality and Statelessness under International Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2014. p. 247–63; EU, Report on the progress made in the European Union in combating trafficking in human beings (Fifth Report), 20 January 2025. 15