Submission of written evidence as part of the project led by Just Fair for the Civil Society Shadow Report of the UK to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in view of the United Kingdom’s 2025 Pre-Sessional Working Group Report.
This submission of written evidence on the UK will be included in the shadow report to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as part of the project led by Just Fair. The previous report to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the UK on behalf of civil society, also led by Just Fair, was published in January 2023.
This submission analyses the right to a nationality and human rights challenges pertaining to statelessness in the UK and provides an update to the written evidence we had submitted in 2022. It highlights why statelessness remains an issue in the UK, focusing in particular on Statelessness Determination and Protection, Children’s right to a nationality and birth registration, the Right to family unity, and Statelessness and mental health.
The submission urges reviewing States to make the following recommendations to the UK:
- Fully incorporate and comply with the 1954 Convention and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, including recognising ‘statelessness status’ as a protection status.
- Introduce adequate procedural safeguards and protection during the statelessness determination procedure, including ensuring access to legal aid and to economic and social rights.
- Protect the right to acquire British citizenship of all children born in the UK who would otherwise be stateless, ensuring they acquire British citizenship as soon as possible after birth, and ensure the birth of all children is registered.
- Ensure that stateless people have access to adequate legal advice and (free) legal aid in British nationality applications in all UK jurisdictions.
- Protect everyone’s right to a nationality without discrimination, and ensure that law, policy and practice is in line with the UK’s international obligations, including the duty to avoid statelessness, to take steps to achieve the full realisation of economic, social and cultural rights, and adherence to adequate procedural safeguards.
- Repeal clause 10 of the Nationality and Borders Act to implement a full safeguard to prevent statelessness at birth in line with the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, and prevent children born in the UK from growing up stateless.
- Provide easier access to family reunification procedures for stateless people in the UK, including greater access to fee waivers and removing minimum earning requirements.
- Undertake information and awareness-raising campaigns to ensure that all stateless people, including members of Roma communities, are informed about their nationality rights and access adequate advice.
- Undertake research on the impact of statelessness on mental health and wellbeing in the UK, ensuring the engagement of affected communities, and take appropriate action to improve mental health and wellbeing of affected populations.
To learn more about why statelessness remains an issue in the UK, read our Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council at the 41st session of the Universal Periodic Review on the UK.
