In the Netherlands, more than 4,000 people are recognized stateless. In addition to recognized stateless persons, the Netherlands has thousands more whose nationality is still unknown. This group of undocumented migrants also includes many stateless people. Stateless people are an extremely vulnerable group. They have no nationality and thus are not recognized as their nationals by any state.
It is still common in the Netherlands for stateless and undocumented people to be detained in alien detention centers with the goal of sending them back to countries of origin. However, because these people have no nationality and often no identity papers, return is virtually impossible and the detention pointless and thus unlawful.
In collaboration with a broader coalition, PILP and the ASKV/Steunpunt Vluchtelingen launched a project to improve the situation of stateless people in the Netherlands through strategic litigation.
As part of this project, PILP, in collaboration with ASKV and DLA Piper, has written a manual for immigration lawyers in which arguments against placing stateless persons in immigration detention are written down in a concise and clear manner. Also included is a complete overview of relevant national and international legislation and case law regarding stateless persons in immigration detention.
![Stateless and undocumented people in immigration detention](http://pilpnjcm.nl/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Voorblad-724x1024.jpg)
The purpose of the manual is to further enable lawyers to assist stateless and undocumented persons detained or at risk of detention in immigration detention, and/or provide them with additional grounds.
In addition, the goal is to create case law that properly respects their rights so that stateless and undocumented persons with “nationality unknown” status can be better protected from arbitrary detention in the future.
PILP and ASKV are eager to stay abreast of developments in this area. Lawyers using the manual please:
1) notify us if you will be litigating on behalf of a stateless or undocumented person with “nationality unknown” in immigration detention,
2) keep us up to date with latest developments in the case, and
3) letting us attend the session as interested parties. In that case, we will report ourselves to the court as interested parties and also provide the court with the manual. Where necessary, we are happy to help think through the procedure.
Read more about what the ASKV/Steunpunt Refugees does on this topic here.
Read more about PILP’s dossier on statelessness here.