Mapping safeguards in Europe
This map shows the status of legislative safeguards to ensure that children born stateless in Europe acquire a nationality. It was published by the European Network on Statelessness in its report “No Child Should be Stateless” as part of its region-wide #statelesskids campaign in 2015. “Full” safeguards are those which comply fully with international law; “partial” safeguards retain conditions that are not permitted under international law; and the countries with “no / minimal” safeguards provide no real avenue for stateless children born on the territory to acquire a nationality. Since the map was published, Norway (featured here in orange) has passed a new instruction introducing a safeguard that is compliant with international law. Using visuals to communicate the extent to which a country’s law falls short of international standards – and how this compares to other states in the region – can be a helpful tool in awareness raising and advocacy for law reform.