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

Report cover Blog

European countries lead the way in problematic practice of citizenship stripping as a security measure

In the decades following World War II, citizenship stripping disappeared as a practice in the West, in no small part because the practice had come to…
/ Laura van Waas (Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion) & Maarten Vink (GLOBALCIT)
Strasbourg conference; Image via Council of Europe Blog

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and statelessness on Roma women and girls

In November 2021, the 8th International Roma Women’s Conference took place in a hybrid format, organised by the Council of Europe’s Roma and…
/ Valerie Poppe, Roma and Travellers Team, Council of Europe
Image by Markus Spiske via Unsplash Blog

Can international law offer protection to those at risk of climatic statelessness?

Scholarship on the impact of climate change on migration has tended to focus on refugee populations, but growing scholarship highlights the impending…
/ Jo Venkov, Lawyer and Writer on statelessness, identity, citizenship and belonging
Michael Parulava Blog

Stateless people gain access to documentation in Russia

In August 2021, amendments to the Law on the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation and other legislation regulating the legal…
/ Olga Abramenko, Expert, Anti-Discrimination Centre Memorial
Image by Abd Sarakbi via Unsplash. Blog

Citizenship stripping as alternative border control: Syrian counter-perspectives

This blog was first published by Routed Magazine in May 2021. We are re-posting it now to highlight the issues raised.
/ Thomas McGee, PhD researcher in the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness at University of Melbourne’s Law School, Australia
statefree Blog

Battling statelessness as a community

Have you ever asked yourself if you are worthy? Am I worthy of love, worthy of this job, worthy of promotion? Am I worthy of joy? Am I worthy of…
/ Christiana Bukalo, Co-founder of Statefree & Expert by experience
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*
Assam North East, India, Harvesting, Rural women workers are plucking tender tea shoots in tea gardens Blog

Statelessness in the Asia Pacific: The birth of Nationality for All

With the increase in cases of statelessness in the Asia Pacific region and the impact of COVID-19 on stateless persons, Statelessness Network Asia…
/ Subin Mulmi, Executive Director, Nationality for All (NFA)
Levi Meir Clancy Blog

Expert opinion: How the Netherlands, France and the UK are leaving children stranded at risk of statelessness in Iraq and Syria

Thousands of children associated with alleged ‘foreign fighters’ have been detained in Iraq and Syria since the territorial fall of the Islamic State…
/ Professor René DeGroot (Professor emeritus, Maastricht University), Philomène Franssen (Independent consultant), Alison Harvey (Barrister at No5 Chambers) and Dr Rachel Pougnet (University of Bristol)
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