25 September 2015
The European Network on Statelessness (ENS) has published the report ‘No Child Should be Stateless’, in support of its campaign to end childhood statelessness in Europe. With over 600,000 people still stateless in Europe today, thousands of children continue to grow up without access to the rights and services that the acquisition of nationality would allow them.
The report highlights how child statelessness is a solvable issue, and that realising a child’s right to nationality is neither complicated nor arduous. It calls on governments, regional actors and civil society to advocate for, and adopt, more effective measures to prevent statelessness and to safeguard the best interest of the child. It stresses the need for states to remove ‘practical and administrative’ hurdles that unnecessarily complicate access to nationality. ENS’ research also draws attention to the particular risks and difficulties faced by children born to refugees and migrants in acquiring a nationality in Europe.
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This article appeared in the ECRE Weekly Bulletin of 25 September 2015. You can subscribe to the Weekly Bulletin here.