On 29 September 2016 Hungarian EMN NCP organized the 17th EMN national conference on Different examples of managing and identifying statelessness. The conference was attended by a variety of representatives from state administration, EMN NCPs, intergovernmental organisations, members of non-governmental organisations and other experts from across the Europe. This international event was aiming at presenting and discussing forms of international cooperation developed within the field of statelessness. Topically, the conference was divided into 3 panels: statelessness determination (definition, reasons), preventing childhood statelessness and durable solutions.
The conference was opened by János Szacsúri from the Hungarian Ministry of Interior, who stressed the importance of states’ responsibility towards the issue of statelessness, need for progressive policies and formalisation of the procedures. He was followed by Chris Nash, director of the European Network on Statelessness, who in his introductory speech provided an overview of the current status quo of statelessness in Europe.
In the first panel Gábor Gyulai from European Network on Statelessness focused his presentation on an extensive overview of the theoretical background of the statelessness-specific protection regime in EU and challenges related to them. Next speaker, Katja Swider from University of Amsterdam elaborated on the legal aspects and EU’s competence to legislate on statelessness as well as on the recent developments within the field of statelessness in the Netherlands. Different European perspectives on the topic and best practices were brought in by various speakers. Giulia Bittoni from University of Bologna and University of Burgundy offered a detailed comparison and assessment of the differences and similarities of French and Italian statelessness determination procedures. An overview of the state of play of the phenomenon of statelessness in Ireland was provided by Anne Sheridan from Irish EMN National Contact Point. Moving on, the representative of Moldavian Asylum and Integration Directorate, Iulian Popov brought the best practise of Moldova’s well developed systematic statelessness determination procedure into the discussion. Moldova introduced several legal instruments strengthening the rights of applicants in the procedure, including granting the applicants a temporary ID, providing access to health care, education, integration activities etc. Next speaker of the panel, Ivanka Kostic from Praxis Serbia presented the legislative changes in Serbia and the improved practices that have helped to both prevent new cases of statelessness and find solutions for persons who have been living without a nationality or proof of nationality for many years. More on practical aspect of Hungarian statelessness recognition procedure was shared by the representative of Office of Immigration and Nationality (OIN) Zsofia Huszka. The panel closed with a contribution from UNHCR representative, Valeriia Cherednichenko who introduced the Handbook on determination procedure that UNHCR published as a guidance tool for policy makers and practitioners.
In the second panel on preventing childhood statelessness, Adrian Berry from European Network on Statelessness, touched upon the international legal framework and practices on preventing childhood statelessness. Gábor Gyulai followed on the topic with his presentation set within the refugee context. Among the general challenges related to children statelessness he counts the most basic and exclusive principle of ius sanguinis prevalent in Europe as the main barrier. The panel on children statelessness was concluded by the presentation of Ms Katalin Tausz, head of UNICEF office in Hungary.
The last panel focused, among others, on naturalisation as a durable solution. Immediate solutions are not durable, however helpful they might be. Durable solutions are such that lead out of the refugee cycle; in this case it is only naturalisation. In practice, in order to achieve the abovementioned, states should reduce the waiting time, no fees or costs, introduce exemptions from documentary obligations and procedural safeguards for stateless persons, Gábor Gyulai concluded.
The article was prepared based on the notes taken by SK EMN NCP and presentations of the speakers.
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