A brief update on the situation of stateless persons in Poland September 2022

The size and structure of stateless population in Poland Difficulties in assessing the number of stateless persons The size of stateless population in Poland is only partly recorded as in the current legal framework, statelessness often coincides with undocumented or irregular stay and thus a portion of this population eludes official statistics. [...] Temporary protection is available to stateless persons married to Ukrainian nationals and to those falling under of the two categories: – stateless persons who can prove that before 24 February 2022, they were legally residing in Ukraine on the basis of a valid permanent residence permit issued in accordance with Ukrainian law and are unable to return to their country or region of origin in safe c. [...] As mentioned before, the application of the term „statelessness” has been inconsistent in the past and thus there is a risk of applying it in a unjustifiably strict manner, narrowing down the category of eligible persons. [...] The low number of stateless persons applying for temporary protection in Poland may therefore be assigned to the fact that many of them would be unable to fulfil the statutory requirements even though Ukraine was the country of their former habitual residence, they cannot safely return to Ukraine and they have no other state that would take them back. [...] Recommendations - A definition of statelessness in line with 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons should be adopted into the Act on Foreigners, - Poland should accede to 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, - A dedicated statelessness identification procedure should be established in law, .