4 1 N
ETWORKING FOR CHANGE – WORKING TOGETHER TO TACKLE STATELESSNESS IN EUROPE
WHY DOES STATELESSNESS MATTER?
Statelessness affects more than 10 million people around the world and
at least 600,000 in Europe alone. To be stateless is to not be recognised
as a citizen by any state. Despite the enormous scale of the problem,
statelessness remains a relatively hidden and little understood issue.
Although many European states have ratified the relevant
international instruments, they lack effective national
frameworks to deal with statelessness. This has left many
individuals vulnerable to discrimination and human rights
abuse. Unable to work, receive healthcare or access social
support systems, stateless people in Europe are often
destitute and abandoned to the margins of their societies.
Europe’s historical disowning of the issue is all the more
puzzling as it is also a ‘producer’ of statelessness. Shamefully,
children are still being born in Europe without a nationality.
Whether inheriting their statelessness from stateless parents
or being the first in their family to experience statelessness,
they have never known the protection or sense of belonging
which a nationality bestows.
8,974
50%+
6
The number of stateless children
recorded in Sweden in 2014, but
for many other European countries
accurate data is not even available
More than half of European
states are failing to uphold their
international obligations to prevent
childhood statelessness
Although all but four EU states
have ratified the 1954 Statelessness
Convention, only six have dedicated
statelessness determination
procedures in place
States often put the blame for the statelessness of children
on their parents. Instead, they should implement effective
campaigns to ensure that parents are fully aware of the right
of children to hold a nationality, as protected under the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is the most effective
way of putting an end to the transmission of statelessness
from generation to generation. I praise the work carried out
by the European Network on Statelessness to this end and
reiterate my support to the #StatelessKids campaign.
NILS MUIŽNIEKS, COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, COUNCIL OF EUROPE