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

Child and progress pride flag Blog

Celebrating progress in the protection of rainbow families, but more needs to be done

Since the day they were born, baby Sara and baby Sofia have been waiting to receive an identity document or a passport and are at risk of…
/ Arpi Avetisyan, ILGA Europe & Patrícia Cabral, ENS
1_Hal_Gatewood (cover image) Blog

Preventing and solving statelessness in European law

Within the member states of the Council of Europe and the European Union, much remains to be done to address statelessness. While the laws created by…
/ Caia Vlieks, Research & Education Officer, Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion
Image by Annie Spratt via Unsplash Blog

Birth registration of Roma children is becoming more difficult: a case study from Serbia

This piece draws on Praxis’ work providing free legal aid to people at risk of statelessness in Serbia. It details the case of Sara, a Roma child…
/ Milan Radojev, Legal Coordinator, Praxis
Rami, Tamara and kids, via ASKV. Photo by Catharina Gerritsen Blog

“Het eindeloze wachten heeft mij kapot gemaakt” – zullen de wetsvoorstellen staatloosheid ter discussie in Tweede Kamer deze week een oplossing bieden voor staatlozen in Nederland?

In aanloop naar het debat van 25 mei in de Tweede Kamer over nieuwe ontwerpwetgeving betreffende staatloosheid analyseren onze Nederlandse leden de…
/ Caia Vlieks, Research and Education Officer, Institute on Statelessness & Inclusion en Marlotte van Dael, Project Coördinator Staatloosheid, ASKV Steunpunt Vluchtelingen
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*
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)
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
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
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)
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