Protecting the rights of stateless people
Every day stateless people in Europe face violations of their rights, from being denied basic services like healthcare and education to being held in immigration detention. Many are separated from their families and live in constant uncertainty. This happens because most European countries still don’t have systems in place to identify stateless people and help them rebuild their lives.
Can you imagine what your life would be like if you were stateless?
Support our work to ensure governments protect the rights of stateless people.
Although nearly all European countries have signed up to international laws that protect stateless people, most haven’t turned these commitments into action. Without effective laws and procedures, many stateless people continue to face discrimination and rights violations every day.
The solution to this problem is clear. Governments need to create fair and effective systems to identify stateless people, determine their statelessness, and provide a pathway to residence, rights, and citizenship.
Some countries are making progress, but much more needs to be done. Our Statelessness Index tracks how countries in Europe are meeting their commitments. It provides in-depth comparative information and analysis on what countries are doing to identify and protect stateless people, including whether they have a dedicated procedure in place and how it stands up to scrutiny against international norms and good practice. The Index highlights some good practice, but it also demonstrates that there is much still to be done.
STATELESSNESS INDEX
Want to find out how your government protects stateless people? Use our online tool to compare and assess what European countries are doing in this area.
Find out moreWhat needs to happen to protect the rights of stateless people?
- Join the 1954 Convention: countries that haven’t yet acceded to the 1954 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons should do so. Those that have joined with reservations, should remove them.
- Establish statelessness determination procedures: governments should create clear procedures to identify who is stateless and determine their statelessness following UNHCR guidance and best practices. This helps to ensure stateless people get the protection they are entitled to under international law.
- Provide residence permits: stateless people should be given temporary residence permits when they apply for statelessness status. Once recognised, they should have a clear path to permanent residence and and citizenship.
- Protect against unlawful detention: without a procedure to identify stateless people, they risk being detained unlawfully – stuck without a country to return to or a way to regularise their stay. A statelessness determination procedure prevents this and ensures people can challenge detention if needed.
- Train officials and monitor decisions: to make sure procedures work as intended, officials need proper training and resources. Â Regular independent audits should be carried out to check the quality of decisions.
- Include Stateless People in Decision-Making: Stateless people should be meaningfully involved in shaping the policies and solutions that affect their lives. Their lived experience and expertise is essential to creating fair and effective systems to protect their rights.
I live day by day, not knowing what the future will bring.
Our work on the issue
Statelessness INDEX – tracking progress across Europe
Across Europe, countries take  very different approaches to addressing statelessness. There’s no consistent way to identify people without a nationality, protect their rights, or prevent new cases from happening. It’s also hard to find clear, up-to-date information on what each country is doing.
To help fill this gap, we created the Statelessness Index in 2018. It’s the first tool of its kind to assess how countries are performing compared to international standards and good practice. The Index makes it easy to compare countries and see where improvements are needed and good practice can be found. We update it periodically and continue to add new countries, so subscribe to our mailing list for updates and check back regularly.
Thematic briefings - key issues at a glance
Our thematic briefings summarise how the 35 countries in the Index are doing on key issues like birth registration, deprivation of nationality, and protection for stateless people in Europe. from the briefings are based on international and regional human rights standards, soft law, relevant reports, expert input, and national laws and policies (Find out more about our methodology). The briefings offer an overview of what’s working, what’s not, and where action is needed to better protect stateless people and prevent statelessness in Europe.