Chris Nash, the Director of the European Network on Statelessness, highlights their recent analysis of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum. The analysis focuses on how the European Commission’s proposals within the Pact could affect the fundamental rights of stateless migrants and refugees. It offers suggestions for addressing these concerns during Pact negotiations and implementation.
The Pact, as it stands, fails to directly address the rights of stateless individuals or offer solutions to the specific protection issues they encounter. This omission is not entirely unexpected, as the existing EU asylum and migration framework also lacks provisions for the rights of stateless persons under international law. This oversight persists despite previous European Council Conclusions on Statelessness and research demonstrating the significant impact statelessness has on migration experiences.
Available data indicates that over 3% of asylum seekers in the EU are registered as stateless or of undetermined nationality, a figure likely underestimated due to inadequate identification and documentation processes at European borders. The lack of a clear system for registering statelessness upon arrival results in stateless refugees and migrants being inaccurately assigned nationalities based on origin or language. This further marginalizes individuals from countries grappling with discriminatory laws, state succession issues, nationality stripping, or prolonged displacement, rendering them statistically invisible. These circumstances impact not only asylum decisions but also family reunification, resettlement, social inclusion, and repatriation prospects.
Aligning EU asylum and migration laws necessitates better identification and documentation of statelessness, along with appropriate determination procedures, protection access, and measures that support integration. These steps are crucial in breaking the cycle of criminalization, detention, and enforced poverty that many stateless people in Europe experience. Essentially, ensuring the realization of rights already guaranteed to stateless individuals, including children, under international law is paramount.
Recommendations include incorporating a clear reference to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and its definition within the Pact. Additionally, screening and recording “initial indications of statelessness” at borders and referring individuals to suitable determination procedures, including dedicated Statelessness Determination Procedures (SDPs), are crucial. Improving data collection on statelessness within EU databases, especially the proposed revised Eurodac Proposal, is also vital. Given that stateless individuals often lack a country of return, exemptions from return sponsorships are urged. This ensures that statelessness-related return barriers are acknowledged and individuals are referred to SDPs during return procedures.
The Pact’s proposal to amend the Long-Term Residence Directive to reduce the waiting period for long-term residence status to three years for beneficiaries of international protection is welcomed. Explicitly including beneficiaries of protection under the 1954 Convention (“stateless status”) in this amendment is strongly recommended.
Integrating statelessness considerations into the Migration Preparedness and Crisis Network and including a dedicated section on statelessness in the Commission’s Migration Management Reports are essential for coordinated data collection and information sharing. Building on EASO’s recent attention to statelessness, mainstreaming it across the work of the new EU Asylum Agency is critical. The draft Pact’s emphasis on monitoring should include guidance on fundamental rights monitoring that incorporates the rights of stateless persons under international law.
Addressing misconceptions regarding relevance or competency that hinder progress is crucial. While concerted efforts from states are needed to uphold international obligations, facilitate naturalization, and prevent statelessness, the EU must also take action. The EU lags behind in global efforts to eradicate statelessness and must harmonize its approach to stateless refugees and migrants to maintain its standing in upholding the rule of law and human rights. Centering stateless people and affected communities in these endeavors is non-negotiable. The European Pact on Migration and Asylum presents a timely and critical opportunity to make this a reality.
For further information:
European Network on Statelessness, Statelessness and the EU Pact on Asylum and Migration: Analysis and Recommendations, January 2021
European Network on Statelessness, Stateless Journeys knowledge hub
European Network on Statelessness, Statelessness Index
European Network on Statelessness, No child should be stateless: Ensuring the right to a nationality for children in migration in Europe, April 2020
European Network on Statelessness, Protecting Stateless Persons from Arbitrary Detention: An Agenda for Change, April 2017
Barnard & Peers: chapter 26
JHA4: chapter I.5
Photo: (Copyright) UNHCR/Alfredo D’Amato
*This article first appeared in the ECRE Weekly Bulletin