Dutch flag Blog

New statelessness legislation in the Netherlands: worth the wait?

On the 6th of June 2023, Dutch Parliament finally passed a legislation package on statelessness that has been in the making since 2014. It introduces…
/ Caia Vlieks, Utrecht University and Katja Swider, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
BRC Blog

Children born in the largest refugee camp in the world teach us what being stateless means to them

From being born without a State in the world's largest refugee camp to struggling to gain nationality in diaspora communities, statelessness has…
/ Sirazul Islam, Youth Director of British Rohingya Community UK (BRC)
Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash Blog

An update on barriers to citizenship facing stateless children in the UK

This blog provides analysis of recent changes affecting children’s rights to be registered as British citizens with particular focus on fees and…
/ Solange Valdez-Symonds (The Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens (PRCBC)) and Steve Valdez-Symonds (Amnesty UK)
Photo: Oscar Helgstrand via Unsplash Blog

Sweden needs automatic acquisition of nationality at birth for stateless children – here’s why

On the first January 2023 Sweden will inaugurate its six-month Presidency of the European Union Council. Currently we still know little about the…
/ Jesus Tolmo GarcĂ­a, PhD candidate, University of Murcia
Image by Omar Lopez. Blog

Are parents of foundlings really “unknown”? - Avoiding statelessness under international nationality law

In popular understanding around the world, “foundlings” are often imagined as abandoned babies found outside churches. In practice, this limited…
/ Mai Kaneko-Iwase, PhD (Law), Researcher, Faculty of Law, Maastricht University, the Netherlands*
 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
Paisaje Campamentos, Tindouf, Algeria. Blog

From colonial subjects to stateless refugees

The exact number of people who were forcibly displaced in the 1970s to the Tindouf refugee camps set up by the Algerian state is unknown, but…
/ Aminetou Errer Bouzeid, LEFRIG Project Coordinator and Social Worker
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
Court of Justice of the European Union Blog

Protecting the right to a nationality for children of same-sex couples in the EU – A key issue before the CJEU in V.M.A. v Stolichna Obsthina (C-490/20)

The enjoyment of LGBTIQ* rights varies across Europe. As a result, children of same-sex couples can face problems with recognition of civil status,…
/ Patrícia Cabral – Legal Policy Officer, European Network on Statelessness
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
British passport Blog

Understanding and addressing childhood statelessness in the UK: Introducing our new project

With a few notable exceptions, statelessness has so far received limited attention among child rights and migration advocates in the UK, yet figures…
/ Jessie Seal, Senior Child Rights Coordinator (UK), European Network on Statelessness
Photo: TeaMeister (flickr - Creative Commons) Blog

How far do citizenship laws in European Union Member States safeguard the children born there from statelessness?

Most European Union Member States participate in the international conventions concerning statelessness of 1954 and 1961, and have certain laws that…
/ Merve Erdilmen (Doctoral Student, Department of Political Science, McGill University) and Iseult Honohan (Associate Professor Emeritus, School of Politics and International Relations, University College Dublin)