Statelessness in the European Union received the asylum applications of nearly 100,000 individuals who were either stateless or of undetermined nationality, meaning statelessness was essentially ‘imported’ into the EU. 38 Statelessness in a migratory context manifests itself in various ways, and can be both a cause and a consequence of migration. For instance, many states have provisions in their nationality laws allowing for the loss of nationality due to absence of a person from the territory for a given period of time. 39 The loss or destruction of identification documents during (irregular) migration might also bring doubts as to the status of an individual, thereby potentially putting these persons at risk of statelessness. 40 These large-scale situations of statelessness in the EU are significantly aggravated and perpetuated as statelessness continues into younger generations. If a child fails to acquire nationality at birth, it is possible that he or she remains stateless for years, which severely and negatively impacts the development of the child. 41 To a large extent, the existence and continuation of childhood statelessness within the EU can be attributed to the general adherence by the Member States to the jus sanguinis regime. The problematic nature of this system is immediately evident, as stateless parents simply do not possess any nationality to pass on to their children. As such, rather than inheriting a nationality, a child inherits their parents’ statelessness. 42 Statelessness may also result from conflicts of nationality laws. Within Europe itself this is not a large problem, as there is a general jus sanguinis regime, but it particularly arises whenever parents migrate to the EU from a country that adheres to an jus soli regime. 43 Without adequate safeguards in place, statelessness could thus be passed on from parent to child or result from conflicting nationality laws, leaving those children vulnerable from birth. Fortunately, safeguards are present in the nationality legislation of the majority of the Member States to ensure that children born in their territories, who would otherwise be left stateless, can acquire nationality. 44 This is not to say, however, that these safeguards are adequate. For instance, in the Czech Republic, a child that would otherwise be stateless acquires Czech nationality if both parents are stateless, and at least one of them possesses 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 ‘Asylum and First Time Asylum Applicants by Citizenship, Age and Sex’, Eurostat (Web Page, 2019) <https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/productsdatasets/product?code=migr_asyappctzm>. Laura van Waas, ‘The Children of Irregular Migrants: A Stateless Generation?’ (2007) 25(3) Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights 437. Nonnenmacher and Cholewinski (n 37) 254. See also Addressing Statelessness in Europe’s Refugee Response: Gaps and Opportunities (Report, European Network on Statelessness and Institute for Statelessness and Inclusion 2019) <https://www.institutesi.org/resources/reportaddressing-statelessness-in-europes-refugee>. It is further relevant, throughout the subsequent sections, to keep in mind that refugees arriving to the EU will most likely benefit more from being granted refugee status. Yet, this article continues from the assumption that for those persons that arrive in the EU and are for whatever reason unable to obtain refugee status, EU citizenship may still have value. Gerard-René de Groot, ‘Children, Their Right to a Nationality and Child Statelessness’ in Alice Edwards and Laura van Waas (eds), Nationality and Statelessness under International Law (Cambridge University Press 2014) 144. Laura van Waas (n 34), 52. Migration necessarily brings with it a diversification of the nationalities and ethnicities present within a state and thereby heightens the possibility of nationality laws conflicting with one another. See Nonnenmacher and Cholewinski (n 37). According to the Global Database on Modes of Acquisition of Citizenship only two countries did not provide for any safeguards for children born in the country otherwise left stateless in 2016, those being the Republic of Cyprus and Romania: see ‘Global Database on Modes of Acquisition of Citizenship’, GLOBALCIT (Web Page, 2017) <http://globalcit.eu/acquisitioncitizenship/>. 31