The European Network on Statelessness (ENS), together with The AIRE Centre, has submitted a third‑party intervention to the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Begum v United Kingdom. We outlined States’ obligations to diligently assess if someone will be made stateless before depriving them of nationality, and how trafficking of children can exacerbate the risk of statelessness.
The joint intervention addresses States’ obligations under Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights (which prohibits slavery and forced labour), in cases involving human trafficking and exploitation. It also outlines the limits that international law sets on deprivation of nationality, including under Article 8 ECHR (which protects the right to private life). These protections are particularly relevant where deprivation may lead to statelessness.
The intervention recalls that Article 4 ECHR enshrines one of the fundamental values of democratic societies and places positive obligations on States to prevent trafficking, protect victims and potential victims, and conduct effective investigations where there is a credible suspicion of exploitation. We also argued that deprivation of nationality may constitute a form of punishment, particularly where deprivation results in statelessness, given its profound impact on access to rights and on private life.
The submission calls on the Court to reaffirm that States must undertake a rigorous and proactive assessment of whether deprivation will render a person stateless. That assessment must be carried out before a deprivation decision is taken, diligently, and in line with international standards and guidance on the determination of statelessness.
Summaries of the national judgments from UK courts related to this case can be found on the Statelessness Case Law Database.
This intervention forms part of ENS’s broader work highlighting the close links between statelessness and trafficking. We have recently made a submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking, where we noted that statelessness can be a root cause of trafficking and also that trafficking victims are at increased risk of statelessness. We made recommendations on how States can address this. In a different submission to inform the new EU Strategy on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, we also urged EU institutions and Member States to address statelessness explicitly from both prevention and protection perspectives.
