THEMATIC BRIEFING | SEPTEMBER 2021 Statelessness determination and protection in Europe 29 on statelessness, ensure country of origin information contains information about statelessness and risks of statelessness as well as nationality laws and civil registration law, policy, and practice, and international standards for relevant officials and wider dissemination. 4.3. Addressing the ‘pull factor’ myth Evidence from countries with SDPs shows no correlation between the number of people entering the country and the introduction of an SDP, and the numbers of people applying to SDPs in Europe remains relatively low.92 Where no SDP is in place, stateless people are often stuck in limbo, subject to detention and failed removal attempts, with no way to regularise their stay and nowhere to go. Consequently, many face grave violations of their rights, and public authorities are faced with significant costs and wasted resources. The introduction of an SDP provides a framework for States to determine a person’s nationality status with two possible outcomes: either the person is recognised as stateless and granted the protection they are entitled to under international law, or they are recognised to be a national of another State, issued documentation and may then leave the country. Either way, introducing an SDP not only ensures stateless people can access their rights and contribute to the societies in which they live, but assists States to find solutions for people who would otherwise remain irregularly on the margins of society, unable to either contribute or leave the country. It is also important to note that SDPs require the cooperation of the applicant, who must submit information about their circumstances, seek information from the authorities of countries with which they have links, and potentially attend interviews with consular authorities. It is therefore very unlikely that a person who does not have a genuine reason to believe they are stateless would apply for statelessness status. 4.4. Reducing statelessness in situ As noted in the Introduction, SDPs are not an appropriate solution to resolve situations of in situ statelessness where the stateless individual (or group) is a longterm resident or was born in the country and has no substantive links to another country.93 To reduce situations of in situ statelessness, States must endeavour to implement measures such as restoring or granting nationality to affected individuals or groups, revising legal frameworks to remove any discriminatory provisions or practices that may lead to new cases of statelessness, and other targeted measures to ensure compliance with international norms and good practice.94 To ensure that stateless people who may have an entitlement to nationality are identified and appropriately referred, SDPs should include a mechanism to refer people who may in fact be stateless in situ to a procedure to confirm their nationality.95