Everything you need to know about statelessness

Realising the right of every child to a nationality through the Convention on the Rights of the Child

When talking about how to end childhood statelessness in Europe, we often jump straight to the special standards that are contained in the 1961…

A Generation of Syrians Born in Exile Risk a Future of Statelessness

Doctor Nazir’s pregnant wife arrived in Turkey with a one-year old and no documentation. They had fled the unbearable bombardment of their home town…

The jus sanguinis bias of Europe and what it means for childhood statelessness

Who is more Dutch: a child born to Dutch nationals in Australia (child A), or a child born to Australian nationals in the Netherlands (child B)?…

Romania’s stateless children – still unknown, still invisible

When I started working on statelessness in 2009 I was told by more experienced colleagues from civil society organizations, as well as by public…

Fighting for children’s right to nationality in Europe

“When is it in the best interests of the child to be stateless? Never!” With these 14 words, Renate Winter, Member of the UN Committee on the Rights…

The right to a legal identity or the right to a legal ID?

Proposed target 16.9 of the soon-to-be-adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) reads: Provide legal identity to all, including birth…

Jus Soli: A miraculous solution to prevent statelessness?

Granting nationality at birth to children born on the territory of a country – the “jus soli” principle – is often seen as an effective tool to…

Thoughts on Strategic Litigation: Can EU law prevent and reduce Roma statelessness in Europe?

The Court of Justice famous weighed in several years ago on the relevance of EU law to situations where EU citizens are made stateless (Case C-135/08…

Legally Invisible in Serbia

Just outside the front door of their shack in an informal Roma settlement in central Belgrade, Serbia, 15-year-old Deni and his six brothers and…