A number of persons who have no citizenship live on the verge of poverty with no roof over their heads. Others suffer long-term administrative detention despite having no real possibility of returning to their countries of origin. Only few of them are able to break this vicious circle; others remain in a legal vacuum over many years.
The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights in partnership with White&Case and advocate Marta Kuchno handled the case of a 17-year-old girl, Marysia. Marysia was born in Poland where she has spent all her life. As a baby of only a few days old she was abandoned by her mother at a hospital. The mother’s particulars, entered in the hospital records, were not reviewed and copied to the girl’s birth certificate. Marysia’s carers have spent years trying to sort out her legal status. Still, without documents confirming her nationality officials did not want to issue her a residence permit.
“Marysia has not acquired Polish citizenship”, says Dr Dorota Pudzianowska, HFHR’s lawyer. “It was also impossible to confirm her Romanian nationality, which practically resulted in her being stateless”, adds Dr Pudzianowska. Ultimately, the girl was issued a permanent residence permit. Her parents have already submitted documents necessary for the award of Polish citizenship for their daughter.
The European Network on Statelessness collects signatures under a petition calling on European leaders to protect stateless persons across Europe by ratifying the UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and applying appropriate procedures and protection standards.
The petitions may be signed at: http://www.statelessness.eu/act-now-on-statelessness
