News & Updates

[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

[English below] Reading time: 4 min„Faeser will Einbürgerung erleichtern“. Mit dieser Schlagzeile verkündete die Tagesschau vergangenen Freitag die Pläne des Innenministeriums, Einbürgerungsvoraussetzungen in Deutschland anzupassen und Hürden abzubauen. Ursprünglich hatte die Regierung das Versprechen, das deutsche Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz zu reformieren, bereits im Koalitionsvertrag formuliert: „Wir schaffen ein modernes Staatsangehörigkeitsrecht. Dafür werden wir die Mehrfachstaatsangehörigkeit ermöglichen und den Weg zum Erwerb der deutschen Staatsangehörigkeit vereinfachen“. Nun scheint es endlich soweit zu sein. Während sich die Berichterstattung überschlägt und über Gastarbeiter*innen, Drittstaatsangehörige und Kinder ausländischer Eltern diskutiert wird, bleibt eine eine zentrale Frage offen: Was ist mit staatenlosen Menschen in Deutschland?„Staatenlosigkeit wird häufig nicht mitgedacht.” Es gibt wohl kaum einen Satz, den wir bei @Statefree häufiger verwenden, wenn wir mit Auß

Deadline verlängert bis zum 14. Oktober // Deadline extended until October 14thDear Community,Do you want to co-create a statefree community podcast with us? 🎤🎧🎬 We’re launching a collaborative storytelling project to talk about statelessness through the eyes & voices of those affected by it. Together we will show why political change is necessary and urgent. 💪🏾💪🏼You will be involved in the project from the start. We will develop the concept, format and storyline of the podcast in four online workshops. We will then meet in Berlin on the 3rd and 4th of December to record the episodes. Interested? If you want to be a part of the podcast, check if you’re available during the planned time slots and sign up via this form until October 14th. ✨👉🏽Online workshops: 3. November, 10. November, 17. November, 24. November - 18:00-19:30 CET👉🏽Meeting in Berlin for recording: 3. & 4. December - 10:00-17:00 CETWe cover the costs for accommodation and travel and offer an expense allo

Politics should not just be made for but WITH stateless people - a sneak peek into our Statefree Community Lab. Stateless people usually have no influence on politics. Without citizenship there is no right to vote and therefore no way to change policy making. As if that wasn’t enough, those who make decisions - politicians and others - often make those decisions without even knowing that stateless people exist in their own country.  “Do politicians even care?” was one of the most common questions asked by stateless people when we started to share that Statefree wants to pursue changes in politics and plans to get in contact with German politicians. It is understandable that stateless people and communities are turning away and losing hope and trust in politics because of how they have been overlooked in the past. On the other hand, this makes it even more important to build a bridge and come up with creative ways to enable political impact for stateless people and bring politicians and