WEBINAR: Identifying and protecting displaced stateless people in Europe: What needs to happen next?

About the webinar

Across Europe, awareness of statelessness and routes to protection for stateless people are growing. Yet for many, accessing protection remains challenging.

While most European countries have acceded to the 1954 Convention, only 15 have a fully functioning statelessness determination procedure (SDP) leading to a dedicated protection status. This leaves thousands of people in legal limbo and at risk of exclusion, arbitrary detention, and other human rights violations.

But change is happening. Governments are increasingly open to dialogue, and new procedures to determine statelessness are being introduced. With the adoption of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, EU Member States now have new obligations to identify indications statelessness and strengthen protection for stateless people, which paves the way for more fair, effective, and accessible SDPs to be introduced.

Together with our members and partners such as UNHCR, we have been actively advocating for improved statelessness determination procedures and effective protection for stateless people across Europe.

To support these efforts, last year we updated our Index Thematic Briefing on Statelessness Determination and Protection in Europe. The briefing offers a roadmap for reform and a practical resource for advocacy, policy development, and implementation of improved protection for stateless people in Europe.

Our webinar will explore the key takeaways from our updated briefing, before hearing from our members in countries where there has been progress in the introduction of SDPs. We will also hear from institutions such as  UNHCR and the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency on opportunities to address statelessness at the pan-European level, and the risks of leaving people behind if no action is taken.