Announcements

BAföG, the German mainstream programme of student grants often denied: Staatenlosigkeit oder ein früheres Studium im Ausland können von der Förderung ausschließen English version below Manche glauben, BAföG gäbe es nur für deutsche Staatsbürger*innen. Auch manche Informationsseiten im Internet klingen so, als ob die Förderung von Ausländer*innen eine großzügig gewährte Ausnahme wäre:Eigentlich ist BAföG eine Förderung für deutsche Staatsbürger. In einigen Fällen allerdings ist es möglich, dass auch Bürger der Europäischen Union oder Geflüchtete, die in Deutschland leben während der Studienzeit mit BAföG gefördert werden. (https://www.meinbafoeg.de/bafoeg-als-auslaender/)Das ist schon vom Ansatz her falsch. Das BAföG ist ein besonderer Teil des Sozialgesetzbuches. Und dieses sagt:Die Vorschriften dieses Gesetzbuchs gelten für alle Personen, die ihren Wohnsitz oder gewöhnlichen Aufenthalt in seinem Geltungsbereich haben. (§ 30 Abs. 1 SGB I).Das wurde in § 8 BAföG umgesetzt. Der Paragraph

At least half a million people in Europe are stateless. The true number of those affected is undoubtedly much higher due to a lack of reliable data. Stateless people are denied fundamental rights that many of us take for granted: to go to school, to work, to marry, to register the birth of a child, to ‘legally exist’. But statelessness is preventable.Together with the European Network in Statelessness and the Robert Bosch Foundation we are co-hosting the event  and panel discussion: Building alliances of changemakers: Working alongside stateless communities to end statelessness in Europe The event will address statelessness in Europe and focus on how organisations and changemakers can build inclusive alliances to address the issue across the region.The event will take place on 28th November at Robert Bosch Stiftung, Französische Straße 32, 10117 Berlin (map)10:30 – Registration with coffee11:00 – Main event and discussion13:00 – Networking lunch14:00 – End of eventPlease register onlin

Fill out this survey to collaboratively create a Community Storytelling Policy How do we make sure speaking out about statelessness is safe, accessible and empowering? Have you talked about your experience of being stateless publicly? What was your experience like?Together with the European Network on Statelessness (ENS), we are developing guidelines for best practices around storytelling and interviews. This survey is to better understand your experience of telling your story, or doing 'storytelling'. We are interested in examples of both good and harmful practices that you have experienced.Your input will shape good practice guidelines and collaborative working models, helping to ensure that stateless voices are genuinely represented and that stateless people are treated with respect and dignity when sharing their stories. Füll diese Umfrage aus, um eine gemeinsame Community Storytelling Policy zu gestalten Wie können wir sicherstellen, dass das Sprechen über Staatenlosigkeit sicher,

Joint Statement by the MENA Statelessness Network (Hawiati), European Network on Statelessness, and Statefree on why statelessness cannot be ignored in the violence in Gaza and Israel We issue this statement as three civil society actors working with people affected by statelessness in the region and in Europe.First and foremost, we want to express our solidarity with everyone impacted, particularly those with family or friends directly affected by the appalling developments on the ground. We have been deeply saddened by the recent and ongoing violence in Gaza and Israel. We reiterate calls for an immediate ceasefire, lifting of the blockade of Gaza, and for all actors to respect international law to avert further loss of civilian life and humanitarian catastrophe. As is often the case, civilians are bearing the brunt of this violence. It is imperative to urgently end the present violations of human rights. Collective punishment of civilians can never be tolerated. At such moments of e

Dear Community,We want to warmly invite you to our Statefree Community Meeting on the 11. & 12. November in Berlin. ✨Statefree has a lot planned for 2024, with a strong focus on recognition – in all its forms: societal, legal, political. For this we are developing projects like a media campaign and an action research to develop solutions for the recognition of statelessness. At the centre of this is the community: you.​👉🏼 Do you want to be part of envisioning how these projects should take shape?👉🏼 Do you have lived experience of statelessness and want to get involved in the Statefree Community? ​The weekend will be a space to connect with other stateless people, to envision change and experiment with possible solutions.If you want to join us and participate, pease sign up by sending an email until the 12th of October to margarida@statefree.world. Please include 2 sentences why you would like to join and from where you will be travelling to Berlin. Statefree is covering the cos

English version belowWie kommen wir von XXX nach XXA? Wir wissen es noch nicht, aber gemeinsam wollen wir es herausfinden  Bewirb dich bis zum 10. September hier 👈Liebe Community,Wir haben tolle Neuigkeiten, die wir mit euch teilen möchten! Statefree startet im Oktober ein partizipatives Forschungsprojekt, um Lösungen für die Anerkennung von Staatenlosigkeit zu entwickeln. Wir werden uns mit den folgenden Fragen beschäftigen: Was sind die aktuellen Herausforderungen und Möglichkeiten bei der Identifizierung und Feststellung von Staatenlosigkeit in Deutschland und anderen EU-Ländern? Wie könnte ein faires, wirksames und digitales Verfahren zur Feststellung von Staatenlosigkeit in Deutschland aussehen? Warum? 💡Ein zentrales Problem in Deutschland ist, dass viele Staatenlose Schwierigkeiten haben, ihre Staatenlosigkeit von den Behörden anerkennen zu lassen. Das liegt daran, dass es kein Verfahren zur Feststellung der Staatenlosigkeit gibt. Dadurch gibt es mehr als 97.000 Menschen in Deu

[Deutsch]  Heute wurde im Kabinett der aktuelle Entwurf verabschiedet. Obwohl es in der Verbändebeteiligung vom BMI hieß, man möchte sicherstellen, dass vor allem vulnerable Gruppen berücksichtigt werden, ist im neuen Entwurf kein Wort zu Staatenlosigkeit. Unser Statement zum finalen Gesetzesentwurf des Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz: Sollte es bei diesem Entwurf bleiben, wird Staatenlosigkeit in Deutschland weiter steigen, und  die gleichberechtigte Einbürgerung für staatenlose Personen unmöglich gemacht. Noch ist das Gesetz nicht vollständig beschlossen, aber viel Zeit für Veränderung bleibt nicht mehr. Im nächsten Schritt erfolgt das parlamentarische Verfahren. Hier wird das Gesetz Innerhalb von drei Lesungen im Bundestag diskutiert - und potentiell verbessert - werden.  Wir arbeiten dementsprechend weiter daran unsere Forderungen und ihre Notwendigkeit and die Regierung zu kommunizieren und werden im laufenden Prozess regelmäßig Updates zum Gesetzgebungsverfahren teilen._______________

[German version below]The evening of the 22nd of June showed that political participation can take many different forms besides the right to vote.At our very first Statefree Dinner we had the honor of bringing together members of our Statefree community and politicians from the German Bundestag for the first time. The goals of the evening were to openly discuss the future of statelessness in Germany and, most importantly, to finally close the gap between those who have lived expertise with statelessness and those who have the political power to create positive change.In a relaxed atmosphere and in a group of 16 people, Statefree Community members and Members of German Bundestag from the SPD, GRÜNE and LINKE as well as their office staff were able to discuss the following questions:What has to happen in Germany in order for stateless people to be part of society? How do we ensure that law not only remains law and theory but also changes something in the real life of those affected? Thro

We went to Madrid - and all we got was … so much! New food for thought and insight on statelessness, so many new allies, synergies and friends working on statelessness and so much new inspiration 💛The European Network on Statelessness and everyone involved outdid themselves with the organization of this year’s conference “Addressing Statelessness in Europe”, which took place in Madrid on 8th and 9th of June 2023. Invited were over 200 participants from 34 countries - (almost) all working on statelessness.Stateless changemakers, NGOs, lawyers, academics and European as well as national government representatives spent two days focussing only on statelessness - a topic so often overlooked. Statefree feels honoured to be part of this great network and getting to meet all these brilliant people dedicating their time to this important human rights issue. Besides the conference being incredibly inspiring and informative, it was packed with real experts on the topic, which allowed for discus

Dear Community, dear Friends, dear Allies,  We are proud and happy to inform you about the submission of our comment on the reform of the German Nationality Act to the Federal Ministry of the Interior.The submission of this statement and the related involvement in the legislative process represents an important milestone for Statefree's work which allows us to stand up for equal rights for stateless people.We would like to thank all our partner organisations as well as individual supporters for supporting us through this journey with their expertise and valuable input. Many thanks also to the Robert Bosch Foundation, JoinPolitics and Echoing Green for enabling Statefree to engage in this important work. AND - special thanks to our Statefree Community members and stateless experts who were engaged in the process of developing these demands. The quality of this submission would not be the same without your input 🖤! In our submitted comment we incorporated the following four core demands

Whoop whoop! Today is the day: We are beyond proud to share that we are launching „The Statefree Pod“! The Statefree Pod is a podcast created by stateless people for stateless people and for anyone who already is or wants to become part of our community.How does statelessness relate to our identity? How does it affect our friends and partners? How can we support each other in community but also ourselves as individuals? Stay tuned for thoughtful conversations and the deeply moving truths of our community members.  Where can I find the podcast? You can find the podcast here on Spotify, and soon on Google Podcasts.  What can I expect from this podcast?6 episodes - 3 languages The first series of our podcast consists of 6 episodes which will be published every second week. There will be episodes available in English, German and Spanish/Italian.  How can I support the podcast? Listen: The greatest gift you can give is to take the time and listen to what our community members want to share

Dear Community,Applications for the ISI Flagship Statelessness Course 2023 are open! The course will take place online from September 19th - November 7th. It’s a wonderful opportunity to learn more about statelessness! You can find more information here und sign up here.  

Hello, I am Dragana, the newbie in the Statefree team 🙂 . I am currently finishing my Master’s degree in Southeast European Studies (Law and Politics) and supporting Statefree as a working student in different areas, such as policy, content and fundraising. Before the end of last year, when I met @Christiana and the team, l knew almost nothing about statelessness. I am curious to learn more about this important topic and spread knowledge and awareness about statelessness and its people around me as it is far more prevalent than expected. Here on the community I look forward to sharing interesting and informative content/articles with you 😊. Below you can find a summary of a very interesting article I came across on Monday: Published by Joshua Levkowitz in: Foreign Policy (March 26, 2023), original title: Turkey’s Xenophobic Turn Targets Stateless SyriansWhat this article is about: The article discusses the precarious status of Syrian refugees in Turkey, a large proportion of whom are

Happy new year everyone🌟! We're kicking off the new year with the news about an online-event in collaboration with the Raoul Wallenberg Institute and Stiftung Asienhaus, taking place on January 19 . The event will be held in German and draws context and comparison between statelessness in Germany and statelessness in Cambodia. Learn more about the event below and sign up here.    Zugehörigkeit verweigert!Staatenlosigkeit in Kambodscha und Deutschland 19. Januar 2023, 11-12 Uhr, via ZoomWas bedeutet es für Menschen, keine Staatsbürgerschaft zu besitzen?  Welche rechtlichen Auswirkungen hat Staatenlosigkeit? Die Folgen für die Betroffenen sind je nach Land unterschiedlich, treffen aber alle Bereiche des Lebens: Zugänge zu Arbeit, Gesundheitsversorgung, Sozialleistungen und Bildung sind erschwert oder unmöglich. Staatenlose können nicht an Wahlen teilnehmen, Reisen sind eingeschränkt, Schulbesuche für Kinder erschwert.Offiziell wird die Zahl von Menschen ohne Staatsangehörigkeit weltweit

Yay 🙌🏾!Exactly one year ago our team sat together in the early morning to launch the first ever online community for stateless people and their allies (see photo).Since then so much has happened:       👉Our team has grown from 8 founding members to a team of more than 15 volunteers       👉Our blog pages has been viewed almost 20.000 timesWe have brought members from the online community together in the offline world - not once, not twice but three times this year   And 👀❗ we have been able to gain the attention of German politicians, increasing awareness of the need for political change   None of this would have been possible without every single person that has followed and supported our journey from close or from afar! Thank you for sticking with us ❤ We can’t wait for everything that is to come! 

Last week we celebrated the opening of the open-air exhibition Imagine by Florian Schwarz and Statefree - a photo project illuminating Statelessness. You can read more about it here.Before it started we met with some of the people portrayed by Florian Schwarz in a nearby cafe. It was a special moment for many of them as it was the first time they had been in a room where the majority of those present were stateless. For me as a volunteer at Statefree, it was amazing to be able to witness this sense of community and a beautiful affirmation of the work of our association.  Before the exhibition was officially declared open, photographer Florian Schwarz, curator Helena Vayhinger and Statefree founder Christiana Bukalo told us how the project started. They also explained why this exact location was chosen for the exhibition. The place is located directly on the border between Constance and Kreuzlingen, i.e. between Germany and Switzerland and thus on an external EU border. A place that man