Browse through our library of news, events, blogs, interviews and publications. You can also access our Statelessness Index and our Statelessness Case Law Database.

ARC Blog

Understanding Statelessness through Country of Origin Information (COI)

Country of Origin Information (COI) is an important element in refugee status determination procedures, as it helps to evaluate whether there is a…
/ Stephanie Huber, Director of Asylum Research Centre (ARC) Foundation and Nina Murray, Head of Policy and Research, The European Network on Statelessness
Oct 2021– Melanie from UNHCR’s Geneva Office. Blog

Looking Back on 6 Years at the Helm of UNHCR’s Statelessness Section

After six years as the Chief of the Statelessness Section at UNHCR, Melanie Khanna reflects on the global efforts to end statelessness, tracing the…
/ Melanie Khanna, Outgoing Chief of the Statelessness Section at UNHCR
LGBTQ+ families, surrogacy and the legal identity of unsanctioned babies Blog

The Statelessness Case Law Database: LGBTQ+ families, surrogacy and the legal identity of unsanctioned babies

The new ENS Statelessness Case Law Database offers a lens through which we can observe how European laws deal with the reality of statelessness. In…
/ Katja Swider ENS Member, Assistant Professor of Migration Law at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
fguszrt Blog

We need to talk about the problem of citizenship

For the most part, the contemporary world is centred on the assumption that everyone has some form of citizenship. This creates problems for people…
/ Tendayi Bloom, Lecturer in Politics and International Studies, University of Birmingham, UK. Lindsey Kingston, Associate Professor of International Human Rights, Webster University, USA. Heather Steele, Deputy Academic Lead, Forum for Global Challenges
Collaboration between academics and non-profits can help protect citizenship rights Blog

Collaboration between academics and non-profits can help protect citizenship rights

Building bridges between academia and non-profit organisations through partnerships is a critical tool to protect the ‘right to have rights’. These…
/ Dr Rachel Pougnet, Senior Research Associate at the University of Bristol
Home Office consultation Blog

UK Home Office should seek to remove barriers faced by stateless children born in the UK rather than making it more difficult for them to acquire British citizenship

Following an online consultation on its "New Plan for Immigration", the UK Government needs to ensure that any proposed amendment to the…
/ Cynthia Orchard, ENS Individual member and Nina Murray, Head of Policy & Research at the European Network on Statelessness
Russian passport being cut with scissors Blog

Russia’s Constitutional Court delivers questionable ruling on nationality stripping

Last month, Russia’s Constitutional Court ruled that there is no lack of clarity in legal provisions that make it possible to strip a person of their…
/ Olga Abramenko, Expert at ADC Memorial
British passport cover Blog

Shamima Begum Supreme Court judgment: What are the implications for statelessness cases?

Last week, the UK Supreme Court ruled in the case of Begum v Secretary of State for the Home Department, in favour of the Secretary of State and…
/ Alison Harvey, No5 Chambers and ENS Individual Member
Children's toys Blog

A victory for human rights in Zhao v. the Netherlands (the ‘Denny case’): Nationality from birth, without exceptions

In its first-ever decision on the right to nationality, issued in late December, the UN Human Rights Committee calls on the Netherlands to enact a…
/ By Laura Bingham, Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) and Jelle Klaas, Public Interest Litigation Project of the International Commission of Jurists (NJCM)
Maltese flag overlooking Valetta Blog

Will Malta’s accession to the 1954 Convention help change a culture of ‘outright exclusion’ of stateless persons?

Malta finally acceded to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons on 11 December 2019 after numerous calls from civil society…
/ Jo Venkov - Lawyer and writer on statelessness, identity, citizenship and belonging
Dominican Constitutional Court in virtual hearing Blog

Seizing new opportunities to address statelessness in the Dominican Republic

Following a decade of restrictive measures on migration and nationality matters, in late 2013 the Constitutional Tribunal in Santo Domingo issued a…
/ Bridget Wooding - Director, Observatory Caribbean Migrants, Dominican Republic
Photo: Drawing of a child detained in Al-Roj camp in Syria. Blog

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity…really? Why France’s forsaken “children of ISIS”* may grow up to view the French Republic’s values differently.

There are currently an estimated 300 French children stranded in various displacement camps in Northeastern Syria. Deprivation of nationality of one…
/ Philomene Franssen, MA Candidate at the University Of London and Independent Consultant