23/11/2024
๐ง๐ผ๐ผ๐น๐ธ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐๐๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฅ๐ผ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฎ
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ
Richard was born in Angola. Due to the conflict he was separated from the rest of his family and came to Europe with the Red Cross. He arrived in Romania in 1994 and claimed asylum but this was rejected. He was detained while the Romanian authorities attempted to deport him. However, he was granted a tolerated stay when it proved impossible to remove him because Angola refused to recognise him as a national. Richard wanted to return home and cooperated with this process but Angola refused to accept that he had any entitlement to citizenship, thereby rendering him stateless. The situation has been complicated by the fact that there is no Angolan embassy in Bucharest, the nearest one being in Belgrade. Despite repeated attempts at further written correspondence, no official response has ever been provided to him by the Angolan authorities.
His tolerated stay status has now been extended for over a decade but does not entitle him to social assistance. Following a change in the law in 2011 he is at least now able to work but he still cannot get married or travel freely throughout the country. Significantly, his tolerated stay on the territory does not entitle him to receive a proper residence visa or count towards the period of stay on the territory required to be eligible for domicile (5 years) or naturalisation (8 years).
He is in limbo, unable to return to his country of origin but equally unable to acquire a permanent residence status in Romania.
๐ฅ๐ผ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐จ ๐ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐จ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐๐๐น๐๐บ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฒ
The new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, for the first time, includes a requirement in EU law to identify and record instances of statelessness, pending a determination. This is important progress towards the improved identification and protection of stateless people.
Romania, like all EU Member States, now has two years to adopt the Pact. Find out more about the new provisions here:https://www.statelessness.eu/sites/default/files/2024-11/Briefing%20on%20Pact%20Implementation%20Detailed%20Oct%202024_3.pdf
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฅ๐ผ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฎ?
The ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐น๐ธ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐๐๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฅ๐ผ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฎ, developed in partnership with European Network on Statelessness, explains the current situation for stateless people in Romania:
โผ๏ธ40% of recorded stateless people in Romania are registered as beneficiaries of international protection.
๐๐ข๐ช๐ก๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐ง๐ข๐ข๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ก ๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ก๐๐จ๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ฅ๐
https://jrsromania.org/2024/11/22/toolkit-to-identify-and-address-statelessness-in-romania/
Statelessness may be identified during asylum procedures, temporary protection mechanism, returns, or border procedures.
There is no dedicated procedure leading to a dedicated statelessness status in Romania, but there are other procedures in which statelessness can be identified.
๐จ๐๐ฒ๐ณ๐๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐
The toolkit includes useful resources for supporting stateless communities, including:
๐กQuestions to consider and potentially ask to identify or elicit proof of statelessness or citizenship
๐กGood practices in relation to Statelessness Determination from other countries
๐ข๐๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐
Authorities should ensure that all asylum officials and other frontline refugee response actors have access to training on statelessness and tools to support identification, including the 2021 EASO Practical Guide on Registration, ENS national toolkits to identify and address statelessness, and other relevant tools.
๐We are calling on European governments and the EU to provide the full rights and support owed to stateless refugees and to better prioritise this in asylum and migration policy
๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ฅ๐
https://www.statelessness.eu/
๐๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ก๐ฒ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐๐๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ (๐๐ก๐ฆ) is a civil society alliance of over 180 members in 40 countries working to promote the right to a nationality in Europe. ENS is committed to ending statelessness and ensuring that everyone living in Europe without a nationality can access the rights they are entitled to under international law. https://www.statelessness.eu/
JRS Romania has been involved in individual legal and social assistance (including housing), media campaigns and advocacy in the area of statelessness. https://jrsromania.org/
