Events

Among the various challenges migrants encounter after coerced returns, the risk of statelessness is just one. However, when it occurs, it prevents access to education, employment, healthcare, marriage or contracts, stripping away fundamental rights, nationality and thus legal existance. Coordinated efforts to address statelessness in Western Balkan countries have led to considerable progress in recent years. Meanwhile, new cases of statelessness arise as a result of migrant readmissions from EU countries. Children born abroad and people deported without a proper identification procedure or identity documents face the highest risk of return-related statelessness. Roma face above-average risks of both statelessness and forced return from EU countries, further entrenching cycles of exclusion and complicating efforts to build inclusive societies. Despite this urgency and relevance from a human rights and development perspective, return-related statelessness remains an under-reflected aspect of readmission collaboration and research surrounding it. The task of dealing with it is often left to local civil society organisations, which are simultaneously affected by funding cuts.

This event aims to bring together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, activists and legal experts to exchange perspectives on statelessness in the context of migration governance. Drawing on a range of inputs, it also seeks to promote dialogue and discussion on implications, experiences and approaches to addressing the issue in an open exchange under Chatham House Rules.

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