Refugee crisis creates 'stateless generation' of children in limbo

Babies born to migrants may be ineligible for citizenship in any country because of biased laws and inadequate EU controls
Volunteers try to comfort a pregnant Syrian refugee on the Greek island of Lesbos. Photograph: Yannis Behrakis/Reuters

  Refugees heading for Germany queue in an Austrian field. Photograph: Armin Weigel/EPA

Louise Osborne and Ruby Russell in Berlin and Antakya-Sunday 27 December 2015

Europe’s refugee crisis is threatening to compound a hidden problem of statelessness, with experts warning that growing numbers of children are part of an emerging “stateless generation”.

Gender-biased nationality laws in Syria combined with ineffective legal safeguards in the EU states mean that many children born to Syrian refugees inEurope are at high risk of becoming stateless – a wretched condition of marginalisation that affects 10 million people worldwide.

Refugee Crisis Creates 'Stateless Generation' of Children in Limbo by Thavam Ratna