From Statelessness Programme to Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion

After three rewarding, enjoyable and successful years building up an international portfolio of research, training and outreach work on statelessness within the Statelessness Programme at Tilburg Law School, we are pleased to announce that from the 1st of January 2015, we will continue our work under the flag of the newly established Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion. The Institute is an independent non-profit organisation that aims to lead an integrated, inter-disciplinary response to the injustice of statelessness and exclusion. Along with the Statelessness Programme’s Laura van Waas and Zahra Albarazi, the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion is also co-founded by Amal de Chickera who has been working on statelessness for the Equal Rights Trust in London. The threefold mission of the Institute is to be:

-          An Expert source of impartial, trusted and interdisciplinary research, analysis, information and education on statelessness and disenfranchisement around the world;

-          A Partner who builds connections across disciplines between people concerned about and/or affected by statelessness and disenfranchisement; and

-          A Catalyst for challenging perceptions on statelessness, strengthening protection and forging inclusion and participation.

What will change?

The Statelessness Programme will no longer continue when the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion becomes operational on the 1^st of January. This means that if you want to continue to follow our work or be involved in our activities, you will have to visit the Institute’s own website: www.InstituteSI.org. If you currently receive the Statelessness Programme newsletter, you will automatically be signed up for the Institute’s mailing list but the new updates will come with a new look and new logo. Our new and more ambitious mission, as well as the involvement of co-founder Amal de Chickera, means that we will strengthen and expand our work so that we can strive to form an effective bridge between academia and civil society / UN / policymakers, but also help new actors to get involved in exploring and finding solutions to statelessness. Our independence will allow us to be more visible, flexible and able to respond to the needs of those working to address statelessness around the world.

What will not change?

Our dedication to the issue of statelessness remains unchanged and this will continue to be the central focus of our work. We will continue to be affiliated with Tilburg University and be present on campus: we will still teach the undergraduate elective ‘Nationality, Statelessness and Human Rights’ and be available for the supervision of bachelor and masters dissertations, as well as to offer student internships when we can. We will continue to offer our statelessness summer and regional courses to professionals and academics working in this field. We will continue to work within and support the efforts of the European Network on Statelessness to improve the response to statelessness within Europe. We will continue to play a role in the International Campaign to End Gender Discriminatory Nationality Laws. And, perhaps most importantly, we will continue to be a source of trusted and impartial research and analysis on statelessness and related issues.

What’s next?

The Institute is currently engaged in a process of consultation, strategic planning and fund-raising, including through a crowd-funding campaign, to cover its start-up costs. To learn more about the Institute, visit its website: www.institutesi.org and its campaign page: http://bit.ly/1D9j7ey. You can support us by spreading the word about the Institute within your networks and sharing our campaign page through social media. 

Statelessness course in South East Asia a success

Between the 4-8^th November in Bangkok, Thailand, the Statelessness Programme of Tilburg Law School carried out the first Regional Statelessness Course. The course followed two successful summer schools held in Tilburg during the summers of 2012 and 2013, and was co-hosted by Open Society Foundations, the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees and the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network. During a very intensive but stimulating and enjoyable week, over 35 participants from around South East Asia followed lectures by international and regional experts. The participants were professionals working for a variety of organizations including the UNHCR, NGOs, regional coalitions, governments, and universities.

The start of the week introduced the participants to the basic theory and legal framework of statelessness. These sessions were given by experts including Laura van Waas and Zahra Albarazi of the Statelessness Programme, Nick Oakeshott and Bongkot Napaumporm from UNHCR’s Regional statelessness team and Amal Dechikera from the Equal Rights Trust, while Marc Krupanski and Laura Bingham from Open Society Justice Initiative encouraged discussion on advocacy and legal aid. The theoretical and thematic sessions were alternated with sessions in which participants worked in groups to apply what they had learned. Throughout the week case studies and panels were set up to discuss the specific issues of the region. This included tailored discussion on the stateless Rohingya issue affecting the whole region, birth registration practices of Thailand and the newly adopted Statelessness Determination Procedure in the Philippines. By the final afternoon, the course participants were able to formulate and share many new and valuable ideas for further engagement on the issue of statelessness in their work. This course set a positive precedent for future regional courses of the Statelessness Programme.

“The course was fantastic and I really enjoyed it!  The exercises and the group work provided me opportunity to personally interact with participants in different fields – government, non- government and international organizations, to discuss and think of possible solutions to address statelessness in South East Asia” – Rosalie Cumla, Philippines Department of Justice, Regional course participant

Tilburg hosts successful pilot of statelessness course

Between the 23^rd and the 27^th July, a bright sunny Tilburg welcomed the gathering of thirty participants and eight lecturers assembling to discuss the phenomenon of statelessness.  The first Summer School on Statelessness, an initiative by the Statelessness Programme at Tilburg Law School and the Open Society Justice Initiative, successfully provided a stimulating curriculum and atmosphere for all involved.  Through lectures, case-studies, discussions and group-work the Course covered many of the topical theoretical and practical issues stemming from the notion of statelessness. The Course equally draw significantly from the participants experiences which came from around the world, including Burundi, Kazakhstan, Thailand, South Africa, Mexico and Slovenia amongst many others, and which ranged from differing fields, such as UNHCR, NGO’s, academia, and government.

Over the past few years the international community has witnessed a growing concern of the true magnitude and impact of statelessness, however, much work remains to be done in terms of developing a full understanding of the phenomenon and importantly in building the required capacity to address some of the attached problems.  It was with these two gaps in mind that the Statelessness Summer Course provided an interesting forum in offering a unique opportunity for learning, reflecting and discussing the challenges that statelessness presents and, importantly, trying to develop tangible strategies to work on the issue.  Beginning with a reflection on the concept of statelessness and nationality, the course went on to deal with legal and policy issues associated with statelessness such as the status of stateless persons, their human rights and right to international protection and ways to research and document statelessness.   The course included smaller team work on regional issues where participants were able to tailor the knowledge they had acquired towards trends and issues that affected their regions.

Lecturers also came from a varied background with differing focuses, enriching further the debate.  These included Prof. Dr. Gerard-René de Groot Professor of Law at the Universiteit Maastricht,   Gábor Gyulai from  the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Julia Harrington Reddy and Sebastian Kohn from the  Equality and Citizenship program at the Open Society Justice Initiative, Mark Manly head of the Statelessness Unit at UNHCR, Dr. Benyam Mezmur research fellow at the University of Western Cape, Prof. Dr. Sriprapha Petcharamesree lecturer at the Institute of Human Rights Studies and Peace Studies, Mahidol University, Thailand and Zahra Albarazi from the Statelessness Programme.  These experts had a mélange of academic knowledge and practical and regional experience to offer.

The most interesting feature was the way in which participants and the lecturers were able to benefit from the knowledge and professional experience of both the lecturers and their fellow participants.  The week concluded with an action-oriented session which saw the participants discuss how they plan to work more on this issue following the end of the Course.  We are looking forward to following up on how these proposed initiatives develop and are excited that the course has been successful in developing a strong and enthusiastic network of future advocators.

We would like to thank everyone who took part and hope to be able to welcome a new group to Tilburg at a future edition of the Statelessness Summer Course!

Zahra Albarazi, Statelessness Programme, Tilburg Law School