UNHCR is today launching a global “I Belong” campaign aimed at ending within 10 years the problem of statelessness – a devastating legal limbo for the millions of people worldwide who lack any nationality and the human rights protections that go with it. The goal of eradicating statelessness is looking increasingly possible thanks to dramatic recent progress in the number of States acceding to two key UN human rights treaties.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres, UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie  and more than 20 celebrities and world opinion-leaders today published an Open Letter, saying that 60 years after the United Nations first agreed to protect stateless people, “now it’s time to end statelessness itself.”

At least ten million people worldwide are currently stateless and a baby is born stateless every ten minutes. Not allowed a nationality, they are often denied the rights and services that countries normally offer their citizens.

“Statelessness can mean a life without education, without medical care or legal employment… a life without the ability to move freely, without prospects or hope,” the Open Letter said. “Statelessness is inhuman. We believe it is time to end this injustice.”

UNHCR’s Special Envoy Angelina Jolie was among the first to sign the Open Letter. “Being stateless means you and your children having no legal identity, no passport, no vote, and few or no opportunities to get an education. Ending statelessness would right these terrible wrongs.  But it would also strengthen society in countries where stateless people are found, by making it possible to draw on their energy and talents. It is both an obligation and an opportunity for governments everywhere to put an end to this exclusion.”

Most situations of statelessness are a direct consequence of discrimination based on ethnicity, religion or gender. Moreover, 27 countries at present deny women the right to pass their nationality onto their children on an equal basis as men, a situation that can create chains of statelessness that span generations. There is also a very real link between statelessness, displacement and regional stability.

UNHCR’s campaign is being launched amid signs of a shift in international attitudes surrounding statelessness. Just three years ago, there were barely 100 States parties to the two statelessness treaties - the 1954 UN Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Today the number of accessions stands at 144, bringing critical mass within reach.

Nonetheless, despite such progress, new risks of statelessness have emerged with the growing number of major conflicts. The wars in Central African Republic and Syria for example have forced millions of people into internal displacement or into becoming refugees.

Tens of thousands of refugee children have been born in exile and UNHCR is working closely with the governments and partners in the countries receiving refugees on prioritizing birth registration for these children. This, and the fact that many lack documents or the fact that in some situations fathers have gone missing because of the conflict means that many of these children may face difficulties in proving that they are citizens.

UNHCR has partnered with the United Colors of Benetton to create the ‘I Belong’ campaign, which aims to draw global attention to the devastating life-long consequences of statelessness. Benetton, in its spirit of supporting social campaigns has developed the creative content of the campaign and the campaign website to host it. Following the campaign launch, the Open Letter will become an online petition on this new microsite, aiming to collect ten million signatures in support of ending statelessness within ten years.

UNHCR also released today a Special Report on Statelessness which highlights the human impact of the phenomenon, and a ten-point Global Action Plan to End Statelessness which aims both to resolve major existing crises and to ensure no child is born stateless in the future.

“Statelessness makes people feel like their very existence is a crime,” said Guterres. “We have a historic opportunity to end the scourge of statelessness within 10 years, and give back hope to millions of people. We cannot afford to fail this challenge.”

While issues of statelessness remain politically contentious in some countries, in others ending it can be as simple as changing a few words in a country’s citizenship law. Over the past decade, legislative and policy changes have allowed more than four million stateless people to acquire a nationality or have their nationality confirmed. For example, a 2008 High Court ruling in Bangladesh allowed 300,000 stateless Urdu-speakers to become citizens, ending generations of despair. In Cote d’Ivoire, where statelessness was a root cause of a decade of armed conflict, legal reforms in 2013 allow long-term residents in the country to finally acquire a nationality. In Kyrgyzstan, more than 65,000 former USSR citizens have acquired or confirmed their Kyrgyz citizenship since 2009.

2014 marks the 60th anniversary of the 1954 UN Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, which, alongside the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, provides the international legal basis for ending statelessness. With enough political will, UNHCR believes statelessness can be resolved. And unlike so many other problems facing governments today, statelessness can be solved in our lifetime.

For more information about the campaign, please visit IBelong page.

The report "Civil Society Monitoring on the Implementation of the National Roma Integration Strategy and Decade Action Plan in Serbia in 2012 and 2013" was prepared by a civil society coalition comprising the following organizations: Standing Conference of the Roma Associations of the Citizens – the League of Roma (lead organisation), Yurom Centre, Roma Women’s Centre “Bibija,” Minority Rights Centre, Educational Centre of Roma and Association of Roma Students.

Download the report: Civil Society Monitoring on the Implementation of the National Roma Integration Strategy and Decade Action Plan in Serbia in 2012 and 2013

The recent fire in the informal settlement in New Belgrade with the tragic outcome, when three children lost their lives, is the consequence of the bad position of Roma population in Serbia, which still has an impeded or no access to basic human rights.

Despite the fact that Serbia as a state party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is obliged to recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions, Roma population in Serbia still lives in unhygienic conditions with no clear prospects of possible solution of this problem.

Also, Praxis reminds that two out of four principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child are dedication to best interest of the child and the right to life, survival and development. Not dealing with the core solving of the problem of Roma population, the state directly threatens the rights of child and fails to fulfil the duties it committed to by ratifying the international conventions.

It is also a disturbing fact that journalism ethics has failed again while reporting on this tragic event. Thus, the facts on ethnic origin came to the fore, and several printed media published the children’s names. This is yet another form of discrimination against Roma population, which is repeatedly practiced during media incident reporting.

Praxis notes that this is not a single case of human rights violations, particularly the rights of the children, caused by not finding a systemic solution to the problem of Roma population in Serbia for years. Therefore, it is necessary to consistently observe international standards in the area of human rights and address the problems faced by the Roma population on a daily basis more systematically.

The recently published Roma Health Report of the European Commission contains worrying data of research relating to exposure of Roma to discrimination, social exclusion and impact on their health, as well as comparative analysis of these indicators in other systems, since the research encompassed 28 EU Member States.

The European Commission states that Roma populations in Europe experience discrimination and face obstacles to accessing quality housing, health care and education. The EC concluded in its report that “Roma populations in Europe are in poorer health than the non-Roma populations,” and emphasized that “while sufficient data on Roma exists to evidence social and economic exclusion, and poor health, there are still vast gaps in Roma health status data which impede any full understanding of the situation.” Worried about such situation, the EC called on the international agencies and Governments to undertake measures in order to protect the health of Roma.

In Serbia, there are no formal comprehensive and reliable data about the health status of Roma population. The results of the Serbia Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2014 may be used for comparison. In regard to the Roma population, particularly significant is the survey conducted in almost two thousand households in Roma settlements. Some of the key findings in the field of health and nutrition suggest that there has not been major progress in the last five years, as well as that the differences between general population and that in the Roma settlements are still great. Thus, for example, child mortality in Roma settlements is still almost twice as high in comparison to the national average, while only 9% of children in Roma settlements have been fully vaccinated on time. These are just some of the indicators that illustrate the gap between marginalized children and the national average in Serbia, and indicate the need for intensifying the measures directed at the most vulnerable and excluded children and families in order to improve their living standard and reduce inequality.

The Commissioner for Protection of Equality has published the report as the result of the survey "Attitude of Public Administration Representatives towards Discrimination in Serbia ". You can download the report here.

Praxis calls on the competent state bodies to publicly condemn the participation of public authorities in the protest against building of asylum centre nearby the Municipality of Mladenovac and take adequate measures against the representatives of local authorities who spread intolerance and oppose to fulfilling the state obligation to provide accommodation to asylum seekers in Serbia. Praxis also calls on the competent stated bodies to immediately remove the posters “Stop to Asylum” at the entrance to the Municipality of Mladenovac.

On Monday, 6 October 2014, the protest was organized in front of the municipal building in Mladenovac when the citizens were expressing dissatisfaction with the decision of the Government on transforming the former barracks in Mala Vrbica located nearby Mladenovac into asylum centre. What is particularly worrying is the fact that the protest was supported by the representatives of local authorities, which contributes to spreading of xenophobia and direct undermining of the state obligation to provide the protection of the right to asylum.

In most cases, asylum seekers pass through Serbia running away from war conflicts, grave violations of human rights hoping to be able to attain basic living conditions and return their dignity in some EU country. Asylum seekers in Serbia are exposed to continuous verbal and physical assaults of local citizens and they are facing the lack of accommodation and problems during the whole asylum procedure even though according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as of 1948 everyone has the right to seek and enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. Praxis also reminds that the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia guarantees the right to asylum to every foreign national with reasonable fear of prosecution.

Praxis calls on competent state bodies to take measures against those who spread hatred and intolerance and who prevent the exercise of the right to asylum and state from fulfilling its obligations under the international laws, Constitution and Law on Asylum. Also, Praxis calls on state bodies to remove the posters “Stop to Asylum” and thus send a clear message that prevention of providing accommodation to asylum seekers is unacceptable.

Today the European Network on Statelessness (ENS) which represents over fifty civil society organisations from across Europe including Praxis will hand over a petition to members of the European Parliament calling on European leaders to protect stateless persons by ratifying the UN Statelessness Convention and committing to set up a system of safeguards and a regularisation procedure.
 
The petition coincides with the 60th anniversary of the 1954 UN Statelessness Convention, and is a part of a wider campaign bringing together a broad spectrum of actors mounting pressure on the European Union to fulfil its pledge made in 2012 that all EU Member States would accede to the 1954 Statelessness Convention. This campaign will see national level events in Belgium, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland and Slovakia among other countries.
 
As part of its campaign to protect stateless persons in Europe, ENS has prepared a report Still Stateless, Still Suffering – Why Europe must act now to protect stateless persons, which contain testimonies of stateless persons.
 
“For too long Europe has allowed stateless individuals to be exposed to human rights abuses and with no recourse to justice. Now is the time to resolve this issue once and for all”, said Chris Nash Director of the European Network on Statelessness. “Stateless individuals often face years of uncertainty, destitution and repeated, lengthy immigration detention. Yet the solution is a relatively simple one. Ratifying conventions is an essential first step, which most EU states have already taken, but must be followed by the introduction of identification and regularisation procedures which are critical to helping stateless persons re-build their lives.”
 

* The European Network on Statelessness (ENS) is a network of non-governmental organisations, academic initiatives, and individual experts committed to address statelessness in Europe. Based in London, ENS is a coordinating body and expert resource for organisations across Europe who work with or come into contact with stateless persons. It currently has 53 member organisations in over 30 European countries.

The meeting of the Group of National Partnership Networks, consisting of 18 representatives of national networks for Children and managed by a pan-European network organisation for children Eurochild, was held in Brussels from 24 to 25 September 2014. In addition to representatives of Eurochild and Group of National Partnership Networks, the meeting was attended, in the capacity of observer, by representatives of two national networks for children from Latvia and Lithuania, and the Ombudsperson for Children from Luxembourg. The meeting was also attended by Jasmina Miković, Praxis Deputy Executive Director, as a representative of the Network of Organisations for the Children of Serbia (MODS), which is a member of the Group of National Partnership Networks and advocates for the achievement of the joint goal for putting the rights and welfare of children at the centre of policy-making at the national and European level.

The meeting began with a discussion at the roundtable in the European Parliament on the topic of advocacy for the child’s rights in the EP. The roundtable was organised by CRAG (Child Rights Action Group) and provided a forum for members of the European Parliament and organisations dealing with the protection of children’s rights to discuss possible further steps towards the inclusion of child’s rights in all policies and activities in a situation where there was no mechanism or body directly responsible for children’s rights in the European Parliament. It was pointed out that currently none of 20 standing committees had explicit responsibility for children and no one monitored which part of the EU budget was spent on children. During the last European election campaign, about 100 candidates elected as members of the European Parliament signed the Child Rights Manifesto, thus demonstrating willingness to ensure that the rights of the child were clearly prioritised in the EU. The members of the European Parliament stressed that it was their responsibility to ensure a voice of the children to be heard and the best interests of the child to be taken into account in creating all policies and legislation of the European Union. Hence, they stated that it was very important to establish an Intergroup on Children’s Rights and Welfare, as well as an international group Champions in protecting the rights of the child, which would work together with civil society to ensure that the child’s rights should be a top priority. The conclusion of the roundtable was that a positive step forward was the open-door policy and the expressed willingness of the members of the European Parliament to put the child’s rights at the heart of the European Parliament.

After that, members of the Group of National Partnership Networks had the opportunity to discuss and adopt an activity programme for 2014-2015, and to agree on changes in the Group's name (formerly Steering Group for Policy). In addition, a document was adopted defining the duties/roles of the members of the Group of National Partnership Networks, whose main role was to enhance advocacy for the rights of the child by entering the EU dimension into national policies and ensuring that national policies with cross-border aspect influence the EU policies. At the same time, the Group of National Partnership Networks seeks to strengthen the capacity of national coalitions and networks for the protection of children's rights, in order to be able to advocate for children's rights and welfare of children in their countries.

The following day, the participants were informed about two key parallel processes that were coordinated within the framework of the European Semester: the Europe 2020 Strategy and the Pact for Stability and Growth. In addition, representatives of the national networks for children from Bulgaria, Croatia and Scotland presented the good advocacy practices concerning the protection of child’s rights in political debates, the use of EU Structural Funds and the Europe 2020 Strategy.

See the news: MODS at the Meeting of Eurochild National Partner Network Group

On 1 September 2014, European Network on Statelessness (ENS) incorporated with its own legal entity with the seat in London.

ENS was established in June 2012 as the joint initiative of Asylum Aid, Equal Rights Trust, Hungarian Helsinki Committee, the Open Society Justice Initiative, Praxis, and the Statelessness Programme at Tilburg University. ENS encourages regional and international institutions to address statelessness within their respective mandates. We also urge countries in the region to adopt policies to prevent and reduce statelessness, and to provide protection to stateless persons.

The European Network on Statelessness now has 50 member organisations in over 30 countries in Europe. With an aim to build capacities among creators of public policies and civil society organizations in Europe, ENS provides training and expertise and is also a forum for dedicated research, monitoring and exchange of information in the area of statelessness. According to ENS, every person has the right to nationality and stateless persons have the right to adequate support – including the right to regulate their status and enjoy basic civic, economic, social and cultural rights in accordance with the international human rights law.

Praxis has been the member of ENS since its establishment and it is also a member of Advisory Committee along with the following organizations and individuals:

• Asylum Aid,
• European Roma Rights Centre,
• Equal Rights Trust,
• Forum Refugies - Cosi,
• HIAS Ukraine,
• The Human Rights League,
• Hungarian Helsinki Committee,
• The Immigrant Council of Ireland,
• The Latvian Centre for Human Rights,
• Statelessness Programme,
• Adrian Berry), Barrister at Garden Court Chambers in London, and
• Katja Swider, PhD researcher at the University of Amsterdam

Download the special issue of ENS newsletter containing the latest information on its work here.

MODS announcement
  

Network of Organizations for Children of Serbia - MODS expresses deep concern and regret for two accidents that have occurred over the past month when students were injured in the playgrounds of schoolyards in Belgrade and Knjazevac.

The last accident happened in the schoolyard in Knjazevac and had a tragic outcome. Schools and schoolyards should unconditionally be safe places for children and it is inadmissible for our society and community that children are injured while playing. Unfortunately, it seems that that we are always late and that we react only in case of an accident with a tragic outcome.

Therefore, we are calling on the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development to send request to school principals in Serbia to check safety of schoolyards and inform the Ministry in writing.

We remind that there are School Committees, Parents Boards and Students’ Safety and Protection from Violence Teams which reach decisions referring to safety of children in schools. These bodies need to work actively in accordance with the competences stipulated by the law and seriously to deal with the issues related to life of children in school.

The safety of children is not only in the jurisdiction of schools and local self-governments which need to take responsibility for the regularity of equipment, devices and props in schoolyards, regardless of whether certain incidents occur during or after the school working time. The responsibility of local communities cannot be annulled and they need to take all suitable preventive safety measures.

Network of Organizations for Children of Serbia expect fast and urgent reaction meaning that they are not going to rely on volunteering of school principals to check or do something, and that the existing law and bylaws shall be consistently implemented and that the problem will be tackled systematically, responsibly and as a prevention – that no child will ever get injured in a schoolyard.