News & Updates

We are very happy to share the publication of the paper: Hierarchies of Statelessness in Germany.The paper examines how the category of “undetermined nationality” creates a hierarchy within statelessness in Germany.Many stateless people already know this from their own experience. Not everyone who is stateless is treated in the same way.In Germany, some people are officially recognised as stateless, while others are classified as having an “undetermined nationality”. Although this may appear to be a technical distinction, it often results in very different levels of access to rights, protection and long term stability. For many people, this uncertainty also affects their sense of security, belonging and mental wellbeing.

Deutsch ✨​Hallo liebe Freundinnen und Freunde,ich bin Chiara, Dokumentarfotografin und wohne zwischen Berlin und Beirut. Seit einigen Jahren arbeite ich zum Thema Staatenlosigkeit und hatte bereits die Ehre, zwei STATEFREE-Kampagnen zu fotografieren. Jetzt möchte ich mich auf Europa, besonders Deutschland, konzentrieren und einige von euch auf euren Wegen begleiten: im Alltag, in lauten und leisen Momenten, aber vor allem in Freundschaft, Familie und Gemeinschaft.Ich arbeite multimedial (Foto und Video) und würde euch für das Projekt mehrmals treffen. So können wir eine gemeinsame Bild- und Erzählsprache entwickeln und uns besser kennenlernen. Wenn ihr eure Identität nicht zeigen möchtet, ist das natürl

Dear Community, Our latest podcast episode is out 🎙! In this episode, Rouaa and Mheo talk about how statelessness has impacted their relationship, sense of identity and belonging. Listen to this moving story about how the two had to travel to a different continent in order to marry and how they managed to reunite in Germany after five years. Listen to the new episode here 👉 on Spotify, on

📣 Community Call – Register Your Interest!Join us in Berlin: 5–7 November 2025 | bUm, Paul-Lincke-Ufer 21, BerlinWe’re excited to announce our upcoming conference in November! Co-organised by Statefree and the European Network on Statelessness (ENS), we’ll bring together community members, legal experts and institutional actors for three inspiring days of exchange, collaboration and innovation to take the next steps towards our shared goal: dismantling statelessness and building systems that truly include stateless people. For that, we will create a collective space to reflect, strategise and reimagine justice, belonging and protection for stateless people. 🗓 What to ExpectOver the three days, we will explore themes such as solidarity-building, innovative protection practices, and the future of advocacy while focusing on lived experiences of statelessness. Day 1 – Arrive & Reflect.

We’re thrilled to share that Statefree has finally launched its first-ever community-driven campaign, and we’d love for you to be a part of it! What’s the Campaign About? This year marks 70 years since the 1954 UN Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons. Back then, 98 countries came together to create 43 articles aimed at ensuring basic human rights for stateless individuals. Today, 99 countries have ratified the convention.Yet, statelessness remains a global human rights violation. Over 15 million people worldwide are stateless, living without legal recognition, access to basic rights, or a place to call home. Despite decades of promises, progress has been slow, and the voices of stateless individuals remain unheard.Through this campaign, “70 Years, 70 Voices,” we’re amplifying the voices and perspectives of

No one belongs here more than you! Dear Community,Our Annual Report 2023 is finally completed 🎉The successes presented on the following pages are joint successes.This report provides a summary of our activities in 2023. Inside, you will find details about our profile and mission, the projects we undertook, and an introduction to the organisation and its members. Additionally, we offer an overview of our financial situation and our plans for 2024. Some of you will find themselves on the pages 😄 We are deeply grateful for everyone who supports us and accompanies our journey ♥️ 👉🏼 Click here to download the 

Hey everyone! 👋🏾  | Find translations in Arabic, Spanish, Russian, Norwegian, Swedish and Danish below  We're thrilled to announce that our next Community Lab is scheduled for April 20th & 21st, 2024, in Berlin, Germany!  Join this weekend if you want to…… meet other stateless people from across the world 🌍 AND … become part of our first co-created Community Campaign 🙌 Fill out

Deutsche Version untenThe way in which statelessness is portrayed in the media is often simplistic, while the legal aspect of statelessness is often very complex. Statelessness also has an emotional dimension that needs to be taken into account - our Statefree Community Lab emotion. The Statefree Community Lab is an open invitation to all people with lived experience of statelessness to come together, exchange and build community. The weekend was filled with personal stories, networking, bonding, and collectively discussing what we want to achieve next year. Envisioning a statefree futureRecognition is a central aspect of statelessness. Especially in Germany, where the path to getting one’s status as a stateless p

[English]Dear Community,We have more news to share on the German Nationality Act! After the first reading and demonstration on Friday, Dec 1st, the expert hearing will take place on Dec 11th at 14h in the Bundestag. @Christiana has been invited to speak as an expert on the proposed reform of the nationality law and will talk about the necessary changes that still need to be made to address statelessness.The expert hearing is a public hearing. If you are in Berlin and can/want to join in person, you can register by sending your name and birthdate to innenausschuss@bundestag.de. It will also be streamed live. You can find more information about it

[Deutsch] Im Sommer 2022 war Statefree zum ersten Mal im Bundestag, um mit Abgeordneten über Staatenlosigkeit zu sprechen. Seitdem haben wir viel zu Staatenlosigkeit sensibilisiert und zusammen mit unserer Community politische Forderungen entwickelt. Im Frühjahr haben wir dann eine Stellungnahme eingereicht, die erklärt, warum Staatenlosigkeit momentan noch nicht im neuen Gesetzesentwurf berücksichtigt wird und welche Änderungen dafür notwendig sind. Trotzdem mussten wir feststelle

Apatride Network is planning the first ever stateless-led international forum, titled Statelessness Awareness Forum (Europe), to be held on 20-24 March of 2024, in Alicante, Spain. Apatride Network invite university students and young professionals from all across Europe to engage and learn on the topic of statelessness. Alongside Apatride members providing lectures and leading workshops, there will be other experts from the field, such as from the European Parliament, UNHCR, academia, and leading statelessness NGOs.Applications are now open! First applicants have a higher chance of being selected.  You can apply here.F

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. (

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 buil

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.

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 appa

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 sp

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 d

[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 pote

[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 Bundes

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 a