2016/2220(INI) | [ParlTrack]

Draft opinion
Recital B

B. whereas statelessness hais an element that has staggering consequences for human rights, development and international stability, as well as an important impact on ~~human rights and~~ civil duties, access to land and property, services and social position; whereas ~~thi~~statelessness undermines the development prospects of affected populations and the effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda;

Amendment 10 #

Doru-Claudian FRUNZULICĂ, Nicola CAPUTO

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Recalls that statelessness in the ~~region~~world is largely unmapped and under- reported, and that existing data is based on different definitions; urges the international community to adopt a unified definition and address the gaps in data collection for measuring statelessness in developing countries, notably by assisting local authorities in putting in place adequate methods to quantify, identify and register stateless persons, and to enhance their statistical capacities;

Amendment 11 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Invites the European Commission to launch exchanges of good practices among Member States, encourages the active coordination of national statelessness contact points, and welcomes the IBelong Campaign;

Amendment 12 #

Doru-Claudian FRUNZULICĂ, Nicola CAPUTO

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4 b. Invites Member States to grant protection status to stateless migrants and facilitate their naturalization;

Amendment 13 #

Maria HEUBUCH

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. ~~Calls on~~ Welcomes the EU support to stateless persons in South and Southe EUast Asia through various instruments and encourages the Union to continue its efforts in order to address the impact of statelessness on development, peace and stability as an integral part of its development cooperation programmes and, more broadly, its external action.

Amendment 2 #

Draft opinion
Recital B

B. whereas statelessness has an important impact on human rights ~~and civil duties, access to~~, including civil, political and economic rights, and represents a major obstacle to access healthcare and education, land and property, ~~services and~~as well as weakens social position; whereas this undermines the development prospects of affected populations and the effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

Amendment 3 #

Maria HEUBUCH

Draft opinion
Recital B

B. whereas statelessness has an important impact on human rights and civil duties, access to land and property, social security, services, and social position; whereas this undermines the development prospects of affected populations and the effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda;

Amendment 4 #

Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)

B a. whereas statelessness is a critical and often overlooked element of another global epidemic – child marriages; prevention and reduction of child marriage is a part of the moral and strategic imperative of gender equality which is essential to countries' economic development and political stability in the twenty first century;

Amendment 5 #

Doru-Claudian FRUNZULICĂ, Nicola CAPUTO

Draft opinion
Recital B b (new)

B b. whereas the complex problem of statelessness remains on the outermost boundaries of international law and policy, while it is not a marginal issue;

Amendment 6 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Emphasises the connections between statelessness and social and economic vulnerability; urges governments in developing countries to prevent denial, loss or deprivation of nationality on discriminatory grounds, to adopt equitable nationality laws and to implement accessible, affordable and non- discriminatory nationality documentation procedures;

Amendment 7 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. Welcomes the adoption of Sustainable Development Goal 16.9 that foresees providing legal identity and birth registration for all; regrets however that statelessness is not explicitly mentioned in the Agenda 2030 either as a ground for discrimination or as a poverty reduction target; calls on the EU and its Member States to consider including statelessness indicators in their monitoring and reporting mechanisms while implementing the SDGs;

Amendment 8 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Notes the link between statelessness and forced displacement, in particular in conflict-affected regions; recalls that at least 1.5 million stateless persons in the world are refugees or former refugees;

Amendment 9 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Notes the link between statelessness and forced displacement; recalls that at least 1.5 million stateless persons in the world are refugees or former refugees, among which many young women and girls;

source: 594.179

2016/12/15 AFET 139 amendments...

Amendment 1 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 1

– having regard to the provisions of the UN ~~legal instruments in the sphere of human righ~~Human Rights instruments, in particular those concerning the right to nationality, such as the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights ~~and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights~~, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the ~~Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimina~~International convention ~~and~~on the ~~Conven~~Protection onf the Rights of ~~the Child~~All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families,

Amendment 10 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 b (new)

– having regard to its resolution of 12 March 2015 on the Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the world 2013 and the European Union's policy on the matter,

Amendment 100 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – introductory part

4. Recommends that in the ~~Member States make it a priority to support the positive developments i~~framework of the comprehensive strategy on statelessness, the EU focuses on the following priority areas when addressing the statelessness issue in South and Southeast Asia~~, and proposes a new comprehensive policy approach including~~:

Amendment 101 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Beatriz BECERRA BASTERRECHEA, Marietje SCHAAKE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 1

– encouraging ~~relevant ministries and parliaments to highlight the benefits of acceding to the Statelessness Convent~~coordinated solutions to statelessness among South and Southeast Asia countries to develop efficient strategies with measurable goals; in this respect, ASEAN could play an important role in coordinating these efforts and aiming towards its objectives of promoting and protecting human rights within the regions;

Amendment 102 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 1 a (new)

– supporting ASEAN Sectoral Bodies and SAARC in supporting their respective Member States to further realise the right to a nationality and ending statelessness;

Amendment 103 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 1 a (new)

– supporting ASEAN Sectoral Bodies and SAARC in supporting their respective Member States to further realise the right to a nationality and ending statelessness;

Amendment 104 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 2

~~– highlighting the value of the Statelessness Convention in multilateral fora;~~deleted

Amendment 105 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 3

– advocating with states on the benefits of gathering national data on stateless persons and those with undetermined nationality for purposes of registration, documentation, delivery of public services, maintenance of law and order and development planning;deleted

Amendment 106 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 3

– advocating with states on the benefits of gathering national data on stateless persons and those with undetermined nationality ~~for purposes of~~as the identification of stateless persons is the first step for the states concerned to take the necessary measures to end statelessness; the data collected will then be used for registration, documentation, delivery of public services, ~~maintenance of law and order~~ and development planning;

Amendment 107 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 3

– advocating with states on the benefits of gathering intersectional, disaggregated national data on stateless persons and those with undetermined nationality for purposes of registration, documentation, delivery of public services, maintenance of law and order and development planning;

Amendment 108 #

David McALLISTER

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 3

– advocating with states on the benefits of gathering verifiable national data on stateless persons and those with undetermined nationality for purposes of registration, documentation, delivery of public services, maintenance of law and order and development planning;

Amendment 109 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 4

– consistently emphasising that birth registration needs to be free, easily accessible and undertaken on a non- discriminatory basis;

Amendment 11 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Beatriz BECERRA BASTERRECHEA, Marietje SCHAAKE

Motion for a resolution
Citation 11 a (new)

– having regard to the Directorate- General for External Policies study "Addressing the Human Rights impact of statelessness in the EU’s external action" November 2014,

Amendment 110 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 4 a (new)

– consistently emphasising that national identity management regimes need to include and provide identity documentation to all persons on the territory, including hard-to-reach and marginalised groups who may be at risk of statelessness or lack a nationality;

Amendment 111 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 4 a (new)

Amendment 112 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Beatriz BECERRA BASTERRECHEA, Marietje SCHAAKE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 4 a (new)

– supporting South and Southeast Asia countries to ensure access to education to everyone including stateless children, as statelessness is a significant obstacle for children to get access to equal education opportunities;

Amendment 113 #

Andi CRISTEA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 4 a (new)

– encouraging the important role of innovative technology by using digital birth registration programs in order to improve registration and archiving records;

Amendment 114 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 5 a (new)

– addressing the issue of the content and application of nationality laws and the arbitrary deprivation or denial of the right to a nationality on the grounds of ethnicity which is the major cause of the statelessness in the region;

Amendment 115 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 5 a (new)

– addressing the issue of the content and application of nationality laws and the arbitrary deprivation or denial of the right to a nationality on the grounds of ethnicity, which is a major cause of statelessness in the region;

Amendment 116 #

Andi CRISTEA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 5 a (new)

– encouraging States in the region to address the needs of women, and issues related to sexual and gender-based violence, through human rights and community-based approaches, particularly for victims of trafficking;

Amendment 117 #

James CARVER

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 6

– ensuring that all development projects and humanitarian aid ~~for which the EU provides funding are~~is set up so that addressing statelessness is included whenever relevant;

Amendment 118 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 7

~~– building the capacity of relevant EU institutions and actors to understand, assess and programme and report on issues of statelessness;~~deleted

Amendment 119 #

James CARVER

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 7

~~– building the capacity of relevant EU institutions and actors to understand, assess and programme and report on issues of statelessness;~~deleted

Amendment 12 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas the region of South Asia and Southeast Asia consists of the following countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, East Timor and Vietnam – who are all Members or have observers status of either the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) or the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC);

Amendment 120 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 7

– building the capacity of relevant EU institutions and actors to understand, assess and programme and report on issues of statelessness; putting in place a regular reporting on the EU’s achievements in the fight against statelessness including by integrating a section on statelessness in the EU's Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the world;

Amendment 121 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 8

~~– ensuring that statelessness, nationality and citizenship are appropriately covered in human rights and democracy country strategies;~~deleted

Amendment 122 #

Miroslav POCHE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 8

– ensuring that statelessness, nationality and citizenship are appropriately covered in human rights and democracy country strategies, and that the latter are based on the principle that everyone, regardless of gender, race, colour, skin, faith or religion, national origin or membership of a national or ethnic minority, is entitled to nationality;

Amendment 123 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 8

– ensuring that statelessness, nationality and citizenship are appropriately covered in human rights and democracy country strategies; addressing the issue of statelessness during every political and human rights dialogue with the countries concerned;

Amendment 124 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 8 a (new)

– setting-up EU Human Rights guidelines on statelessness in order to provide concrete measurable objectives for EU's efforts to eliminate statelessness worldwide;

Amendment 125 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 9

– ensuring that participants in election observation missions are aware of statelessness issues ~~where relevant~~;

Amendment 126 #

David McALLISTER

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 9 a (new)

– increasing a dialogue on statelessness in South and South East Asia with relevant regional and international organisations as well as with neighbours of the South and South East Asian countries and other active states in the region;

Amendment 127 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 10

Amendment 128 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 10

Amendment 129 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 10

– reserving funding in the Development Cooperation Instrument, European Development Fund and the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights budgets for NGOs and other organisations working to reach stateless communities; promoting partnerships between civil society organisations and statelessness communities in order to empower them so they can fight for their rights;

Amendment 13 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Beatriz BECERRA BASTERRECHEA, Marietje SCHAAKE

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas the region of South Asia and Southeast Asia consists of the following sovereign countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam – who are all Members of either the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) or the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC);

Amendment 130 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 10

– reserving adequate funding in the Development Cooperation Instrument, European Development Fund and the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights budgets for NGOs and other organisations working to reach stateless communities;

Amendment 131 #

Andi CRISTEA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 10 a (new)

– highlighting the necessity to empower regional human rights bodies in order for them to have a more active role in the identification and elimination of statelessness;

Amendment 132 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 11

– ensuring follow-up, such as awareness raising and technical support for public administrations, including at local level for when there have been positive developments that need to be implemented in practice, such as in Bangladesh, where the Biharis have been granted the right to citizenship and voting rights;deleted

Amendment 133 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 11

– ensuring follow-up, such as awareness raising and technical support for public administrations and capacity building, including at local level for when there have been positive developments that need to be implemented in practice, such as in Bangladesh, where the Biharis have been granted the right to citizenship and voting rights; supporting South and Southeast Asia countries in the promotion and exchange of best practices in implementing international standards related to the fight against statelessness;

Amendment 134 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Beatriz BECERRA BASTERRECHEA, Marietje SCHAAKE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 11

– ensuring follow-up, such as awareness raising and technical support for public administrations, including at local level for when there have been positive developments that need to be implemented in practice, such as in ~~Bangladesh, where the Biharis have been granted the right to citizenship and voting rights~~Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam and Bangladesh, where the citizenship of the Biharis, including their voting rights, was restored;

Amendment 135 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 11

– ensuring follow-up, such as awareness raising and technical support for public administrations, including at local level for when there have been positive developments that need to be implemented in practice, such as in Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam and Bangladesh, where the Biharis have been granted the right to citizenship and voting rights;

Amendment 136 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

Amendment 137 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

Amendment 138 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Calls on the EU and its Member States to play a greater role in the fight against statelessness around the world by adopting a comprehensive policy regarding statelessness as a part of its external action on human rights issues; the objective should be that the States of origin of stateless persons should grant citizenship and not withdraw it from those who leave these States as refugees;

Amendment 139 #

James CARVER

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Calls on the ~~EU and its~~ Member States to play a greater role in the fight against statelessness around the world by adopting a comprehensive policy regarding statelessness as a part of its external action on human rights issues;

Amendment 14 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)

Aa. whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms that all individuals are born equal in dignity and rights; whereas the right to a nationality and the right not to be arbitrarily deprived from one’s nationality is enshrined in Article 15 of the same Declaration, as well as in other international human rights instruments and conventions;

Amendment 15 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)

Aa. whereas all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated; whereas human rights and fundamental freedoms are the birth right of all human beings and their protection and promotion is the first responsibility of governments;

Amendment 16 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)

Ab. whereas the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been ratified by all South and Southeast Asia countries, stipulates that a child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right to acquire a nationality; whereas it is estimated that half of the world’s stateless persons are children and that many of them are stateless from birth;

Amendment 17 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

B. whereas the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration affirms that every person that has the right to a nationality as prescribed by law and no person ‘shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality, nor denied the right to change that nationality’; whereas each of the countries concerned is a sovereign state and it is important not to interfere in their internal affairs;

Amendment 18 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Marietje SCHAAKE

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

C. whereas a stateless person is defined in the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Person as someone ‘who is not considered as a national of any State under operation of its law’; whereas the root causes of statelessness ~~can vary~~are diverse, including but not limited to ~~being forced to flee, migr~~state succession, dissolution of states, violent conflict, discriminatory policy toward a targeted group of persons, gender discrimination, changes and gaps in nationality laws, expiration of nationality ~~through~~for having lived outside of one’s country for an extended period of time, ~~gender discrimination,~~ administrative and bureaucratic hurdles;

Amendment 19 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

C. whereas a stateless person is defined in the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Person as someone ‘who is not considered as a national of any State under operation of its law’; whereas the causes of statelessness can vary, including but not limited to ~~being forced to flee, migration,~~ changes and gaps in nationality laws, expiration of nationality through having lived outside of one’s country for an extended period of time, ~~gender discrimination~~arbitrary deprivation or nationality, discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity or other grounds, administrative and bureaucratic hurdles;

Amendment 2 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 1

– having regard to the provisions of the UN legal instruments in the sphere of human rights, in ~~particular~~cluding those concerning the right to a nationality, such as the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Rights of the Child,

Amendment 20 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

C. whereas a stateless person is defined in the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Person as someone ‘'who is not considered as a national of any State under operation of its law’'; whereas the causes of statelessness can vary, including but not limited to state succession, events surrounding being forced to flee, migration, changes and gaps in nationality laws, expiration of nationality through having lived outside of one’'s country for an extended period of time, ~~gender discrimination~~arbitrary deprivation or nationality, discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity or other grounds, administrative and bureaucratic hurdles;

Amendment 21 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

C. whereas a stateless person is defined in the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Person as someone ‘who is not considered as a national of any State under operation of its law’; whereas the causes of statelessness can vary, including but not limited to being forced to flee, migration, changes and gaps in nationality laws, expiration of nationality through having lived outside of one’s country for an extended period of time, gender discrimination, administrative and bureaucratic hurdles; whereas statelessness may also be the result of a court judgment in the person’s country of origin;

Amendment 22 #

David McALLISTER

C. whereas a stateless person is defined in the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Person as someone ‘who is not considered as a national of any State under operation of its law’; whereas the causes of statelessness can vary, including but not limited to being forced to flee, migration, human trafficking, changes and gaps in nationality laws, expiration of nationality through having lived outside of one’s country for an extended period of time, gender discrimination, administrative and bureaucratic hurdles;

Amendment 23 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

C. whereas a stateless person is defined in the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Person as someone ‘who is not considered as a national of any State under operation of its law’; whereas the causes of statelessness can vary, including but not limited to being forced to flee, migration, changes and gaps in nationality laws, expiration of nationality through having lived outside of one’s country for an extended period of time, gender discrimination, administrative and bureaucratic hurdles;

Amendment 24 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)

Ca. whereas it is important to note that whether a person is stateless a distinct question from whether they are a refugee; most stateless people have never left the place where they were born or have never crossed an international border;

Amendment 25 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)

Cb. whereas the causes of statelessness can vary, including but not limited to religious and racial discrimination, gender discrimination, changing views on who belongs to the country as nationals, the lack of registration of birth certificates, changes and gaps in nationality laws, being forced to flee, migration, expiration of nationality through having lived outside of one’s country for an extended period of time as well as administrative and bureaucratic hurdles;

Amendment 26 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

D. whereas statelessness is a ~~multifaceted problem~~human rights challenge and often a consequence of human rights neglect; while it also has a serious and lasting impact on other human rights issues, including but not limited to problems relating to birth certificates and other civil status documents, ~~as well as~~exclusion from child health programmes and the state's school system, other documents relating to property, educational achievement and business ownership, political representation and voting participation, access to social security and public services; whereas statelessness may contribute to human trafficking and child abuse;

Amendment 27 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

D. whereas statelessness is a multifaceted problem~~, including but~~ and the root cause of serious human rights violations that include but are not limited to problems relating to birth certificates and other civil status documents, as well as other documents relating to property, educational achievement and business ownership, political representation and voting participation, access to social security and public services; whereas statelessness may contribute to human trafficking, a~~nd child abuse;~~ rbitrary detention, violation of the freedom of movement, child abuse and discrimination against women;

Amendment 28 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

D. whereas statelessness is a multifaceted problem, including but not limited to problems relating to birth certificates and other civil status documents, as well as other documents relating to property, educational achievement and business ownership, political representation and voting participation, access to social security and public services; whereas statelessness may ~~contribute to human trafficking and child abuse~~have negative effects associated with social factors and have an adverse impact in terms of human trafficking, violence and mistreatment of children, etc.;

Amendment 29 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

D. whereas statelessness is a multifaceted problem, including but not limited to problems relating to birth certificates and other civil status documents, as well as other documents relating to property, educational achievement and business ownership, political representation and voting participation, access to social security and public services; whereas these problems are detrimental to the positive development of these population groups; whereas statelessness may contribute to human trafficking and child abuse;

Amendment 3 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Beatriz BECERRA BASTERRECHEA, Marietje SCHAAKE

Motion for a resolution
Citation 2

– having regard to other UN instruments on statelessness and the right to a nationality, such as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) executive committee’s Conclusion No. 106 on Identification, Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness and Protection of Stateless Persons, endorsed by UN General Assembly resolution 61/137 of 2006,

Amendment 30 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

D. whereas statelessness is a multifaceted problem, including but not limited to problems relating to birth certificates and other civil status documents, as well as other documents relating to property, educational achievement and business ownership, political representation and voting participation, access to social security and public services; whereas statelessness may contribute to serious violations of human rights, including human trafficking and child abuse;

Amendment 31 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

D. whereas statelessness is a multifaceted problem, including but not limited to problems relating to birth certificates and other civil status documents, as well as other ~~document~~problems relating to property rights, educational achievement and business ownership, political representation and voting participation, access to social security and public services; whereas statelessness may contribute to human trafficking and child abuse;

Amendment 32 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)

Da. whereas statelessness continues to receive limited international attention despite its very worrying global and regional human rights implications and continues to be seen as an internal affair of states; whereas reducing and eventually abolishing statelessness should become a human rights priority at the international level;

Amendment 33 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)

Da. whereas legislative gender discrimination, for example in acquiring or passing on nationality to one’s child or spouse is still present in South and Southeast Asia in countries such as Nepal, Malaysia, Brunei;

Amendment 34 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)

Db. whereas the UNHCR has made an estimation that 135 million children under 5 years of age across the region have not had their births registered and are at risk of becoming stateless;

Amendment 35 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)

Db. whereas the international legal instruments to fight statelessness have not achieved their primary objective of protecting the right of every person to a nationality;

Amendment 36 #

Dc. whereas the ending of statelessness will also lead to more democracy as former stateless persons will now be included in and be able to contribute to the democratic processes;

Amendment 37 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

~~E. whereas the right to a nationality is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other global human rights instruments and conventions;~~deleted

Amendment 38 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

E. whereas the right to a nationality is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other global human rights instruments and conventions; whereas each sovereign state remains free to take its own decisions, particularly concerning acts of high treason committed by the citizens of certain countries who voluntarily join a self- proclaimed ‘caliphate’;

Amendment 39 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

E. whereas the right to a nationality is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and ~~othe~~nearly all other major global human rights instruments and conventions;

Amendment 4 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 2 a (new)

– having regard to the General recommendation 32 from the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against women on the gender-related dimension of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women,

Amendment 40 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F

F. whereas The Global Action Plan to End Statelessness: 2014 – 2024 of the UNHCR aims to resolve existing major situations of statelessness, prevent new cases of emerging and better identify and protect stateless populations; whereas a distinction should also be drawn between stateless persons who are victims and those who become stateless voluntarily (betraying their country by joining foreign armies or terrorist organisations);

Amendment 41 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F

F. whereas The Global Action Plan to End Statelessness: 2014 – 2024 of the UNHCR aims to resolve existing major situations of statelessness, prevent new cases of emerging and better identify and protect stateless populations; as well as points to the need to improve quantitative and qualitative data on statelessness;

Amendment 42 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Beatriz BECERRA BASTERRECHEA, Marietje SCHAAKE

Motion for a resolution
Recital F

F. whereas The Global Action Plan to End Statelessness: 2014 – 2024 of the UNHCR aims to resolve existing major situations of statelessness, prevent new cases of emerging and better identify and protect stateless populations; whereas the EU committed to actively support the UNHCR Action’s Plan to end statelessness;

Amendment 43 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F

F. whereas The Global Action Plan to End Statelessness: 2014 – 2024 of ~~the~~ UNHCR aims to support governments in resolveing existing major situations of statelessness, prevent new cases of emerging and better identify and protect stateless populations;

Amendment 44 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F

Amendment 45 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital G

G. whereas the Council Conclusions on the Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2015 - 20193 affirm the importance of addressing the issue of statelessness in relations with priority countries and on focusing efforts on preventing the emergence of stateless populations as a result of conflict, displacement and the break-up of states; _________________ 3deleted null

Amendment 46 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)

Ga. whereas the Council Conclusions on the Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2015 - 2019 affirm the importance of addressing the issue of statelessness in relations with priority countries - within the framework of their sovereignty - and on focusing efforts on preventing the emergence of stateless populations as a result of conflict, displacement and the break-up of states; whereas it is also important to check systematically the past movements of the stateless persons in question, in order to avoid ‘whitewashing’ former terrorists;

Amendment 47 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital Ga (new)

Ga. whereas the Council Conclusions on the Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2015 - 2019 affirm the importance of addressing the issue of statelessness through global and bilateral dialogue with priority countries and on focusing efforts on preventing the emergence of stateless populations as a result of conflict, displacement and the break-up of states;

Amendment 48 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H

H. whereas the EU Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World – Country and Regional Issues of 20 September 2016 affirms the EU’s aim to increase the consistency, effectiveness and visibility of human rights in EU foreign policy and the aim to increase the profile of the EU’s engagement with the UN and with regional human rights mechanisms to foster regional ownership and to promote the universality of human rights, and mentions specifically that this includes the launch of a first policy dialogue on human rights with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) human rights mechanisms;deleted

Amendment 49 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital I

I. whereas the EU has determined that it will place human rights at the centre of its relations with third countries and a key consideration is that while firmly based on universal norms, the EU’s policy on human rights will be carefully designed to accommodate the circumstances of each country while respecting its national sovereignty; whereas, however, the European Union should not be naively optimistic in discussions with certain countries or organisations (e.g. Al-Nusra) at the expense of the security of citizens of EU Member States;

Amendment 5 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Beatriz BECERRA BASTERRECHEA, Marietje SCHAAKE

Motion for a resolution
Citation 3

– having regard to the UNHCR’'s Campaign to End Statelessness by 2024 and the ~~Internation~~Global Campaign ~~to End Gender Discrimination in~~for Equal Nationality ~~Law~~Rights supported by the UNHCR, UN Women and others, and endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council,

Amendment 50 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital I

I. whereas the EU has determined that it will place human rights at the centre of its relations with third countries ~~and a key consideration is that while firmly based on universal norms, the EU’s policy on human rights will be carefully designed to accommodate the circumstances of each country~~;

Amendment 51 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital I

I. whereas the EU has determined that it will place human rights at the centre of its relations with third countries as one of its top priorities, and a key consideration is that while firmly based on universal norms, the EU’s policy on human rights will be carefully designed to accommodate the circumstances of each country;

Amendment 52 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital I a (new)

Ia. whereas statelessness promotes population movements, emigration and human trafficking, destabilising whole sub-regions;

Amendment 53 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital J

J. whereas many of the world’s 10 million stateless persons reside in South and Southeast Asia, with the Rohingya of Myanmar being the single largest stateless group in the world, with over ~~800 000~~1 million persons under the UNHCR’s statelessness mandate, but large communities of stateless people are also found in Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei ~~and elsewher~~, Vietnam, the Philippines and elsewhere; whereas some of these groups fall under the UNHCR's statelessness mandate, but other do not and not all countries keep statistics on this issue; whereas South and Southeast Asia have both protracted and unresolved cases, as well as cases where effective progress has been made, at least on paper;

Amendment 54 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital J

J. whereas many of the world’s 10 million stateless persons reside in South and Southeast Asia, with the Rohingya of Myanmar being the single largest stateless group in the world, with over 800 000 persons under the UNHCR’s statelessness mandate, but large communities of stateless people are also found in Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei and elsewhere; whereas South and Southeast Asia have both protracted and unresolved cases, as well as cases where effective progress has been made, at least on paper; notes that this matter is an exclusive prerogative of the UN;

Amendment 55 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Beatriz BECERRA BASTERRECHEA, Marietje SCHAAKE

Motion for a resolution
Recital J

J. whereas many of the world’s 10 million stateless persons reside in South and Southeast Asia, with the Rohingya of Myanmar being the single largest stateless group in the world, with ~~over 8~~nearly 1 000 000 persons under the UNHCR’s statelessness mandate, but large communities of stateless people are also found in Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei and elsewhere; whereas South and Southeast Asia have both protracted and unresolved cases, such as the stateless Tibetans, as well as cases where effective progress has been made, at least on paper;

Amendment 56 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital J

J. whereas many of the world’s 10 million stateless persons reside in South and Southeast Asia, with the Rohingya of Myanmar being the single largest stateless group in the world, with over ~~800 000~~1 million persons under the UNHCR’s statelessness mandate, but large communities of stateless people are also found in Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei and elsewhere; whereas South and Southeast Asia have both protracted and unresolved cases, as well as cases where effective progress has been made~~, at least on paper~~;

Amendment 57 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital J

J. whereas many of the world’s 10 million stateless persons reside in South and Southeast Asia, with the Rohingya of Myanmar being the single largest stateless group in the world, with over ~~800 000~~1 million persons under the UNHCR’s statelessness mandate, but large communities of stateless people are also found in Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei and elsewhere; whereas South and Southeast Asia have both protracted and unresolved cases, as well as cases where effective progress has been made~~, at least on paper~~;

Amendment 58 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital J a (new)

Ja. whereas all stateless individuals count and all cases of statelessness, major as well as minor, are equally important to address;

Amendment 59 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital K

K. whereas significant progress has been made in South and Southeast Asia in recent years with amendments to nationality laws introducing adequate provisions to prevent statelessness and to allow stateless persons to acquire nationality; whereas these efforts need to be pursued and reinforced;

Amendment 6 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 a (new)

– having regard to the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted by the June 1993 World Conference on Human Rights,

Amendment 60 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital K

K. whereas s~~ignificant~~ome progress has been made in South and Southeast Asia in recent years with amendments to nationality laws introducing adequate provisions to prevent statelessness and to allow stateless persons to acquire nationality; whereas those laws must also be complied with in practice;

Amendment 61 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital L

L. whereas the Rohingya are one of the world’s most persecuted minorities, and have been officially stateless since the 1982 Burmese Citizenship Law; whereas the Rohingya are unwanted by the Myanmar authorities and by neighbouring countries, although some of the latter host large refugee populations; whereas ~~ongoing clashes in Rakhine State are causing continued human trafficking;~~ thousands of refugees who have made it across the border to Bangladesh in desperate need of humanitarian assistance are being forcibly pushed back in flagrant violation of international law; whereas ongoing clashes in Rakhine State are causing continued human trafficking; whereas the Rohingya are fleeing a policy of collective punishment in Rakhine State, where security forces are mounting indiscriminate reprisal attacks, firing at villagers from helicopter gunships, torching hundreds of homes, carrying out arbitrary arrests and raping women and girls;

Amendment 62 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital L

Amendment 63 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Beatriz BECERRA BASTERRECHEA, Marietje SCHAAKE

L. whereas, according to the UN, the Rohingya are one of the world’s most persecuted minorities, constitute the largest stateless group in the world and have been officially stateless since the 1982 Burmese Citizenship Law; whereas the Rohingya are unwanted by the Myanmar authorities and by neighbouring countries, although some of the latter host large refugee populations; whereas ongoing clashes in Rakhine State are causing continued human trafficking; whereas the current government is doing little to resolve the situation;

Amendment 64 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital L

Amendment 65 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Beatriz BECERRA BASTERRECHEA, Marietje SCHAAKE

Motion for a resolution
Recital L

Amendment 66 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital L a (new)

La. whereas the authorities of Myanmar should allow access for humanitarian groups to Rakhine State, conduct thorough and impartial investigations of killings with perpetrators held to account, and implement concerted efforts to fight and prevent acts of incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence against minorities;

Amendment 67 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital L a (new)

La. whereas Ms Suu Kyi should, in her capacity as State Councillor, Foreign Minister and Minister for the President’s Office in a civilian government, use her influence to tackle the issue of Rohingyas, their discrimination and statelessness effectively.

Amendment 68 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Beatriz BECERRA BASTERRECHEA, Marietje SCHAAKE

Motion for a resolution
Recital M

M. whereas the hundreds of thousands of so-called ‘Biharis’ ~~found themselves statel~~were not treated as citizens of Bangladessh after the Bangladesh War of Independence, when Pakistan refused their repatriation; whereas, however, a number of court rulings since 2003 have ~~restored the Biharis’ right to~~confirmed that the Biharis are citizens of Beang~~ali citizenship~~ladesh; whereas a large number of Biharis still ~~live in extremely precarious conditions in camps and~~are not fully integrated in Bangladesh society and development programmes and many have not been able to fully exercise their ~~new~~reconfirmed rights.;

Amendment 69 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital N

N. whereas there are many other stateless groups in South and Southeast Asia; whereas, however, a number of positive developments have taken place in recent years, such as in Indonesia, which reformed its nationality law in 2006 so that citizenship can no longer be lost by Indonesian migrants that spend more than five years abroad, if it results in statelessness and removed gender discrimination in the acquisition of nationality, in Cambodia, where birth registration has been made free of charge in the first 30 days after the birth, in Vietnam, which in 2008 ~~granted~~facilitated the naturalisation nationality to anyone who had been a stateless resident living in Vietnam for over 20 years, and in Thailand where following reform to nationality and civil registration laws 2 .000 stateless persons have acquired nationality since 2011;

Amendment 7 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 b (new)

– having regard to the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration,

Amendment 70 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital N

N. whereas there are many other stateless groups in South and Southeast Asia; whereas, however, a number of positive developments have taken place in recent years, such as in Indonesia, which reformed its nationality law in 2006 so that citizenship can no longer be lost by Indonesian migrants that spend more than five years abroad if it results in statelessness and removed gender discrimination in the acquisition of nationality, in Cambodia, where birth registration has been made free of charge in the first 30 days after the birth, in Vietnam, which in 2008 ~~granted nationality to~~facilitated the naturalisation of anyone who had been a stateless resident living in Vietnam for over 20 years, and in Thailand where following reform to nationality and civil registration laws 23 .000 stateless persons have acquired nationality since 2011;

Amendment 71 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Beatriz BECERRA BASTERRECHEA, Marietje SCHAAKE

Motion for a resolution
Recital N a (new)

Na. whereas it is of utmost importance that the governments and relevant authorities of all countries in the region fully comply with the principle of non- refoulement and protect refugees, in line with their international obligations and with international human rights standards;

Amendment 72 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital N a (new)

Na. whereas stateless groups should have access to humanitarian programmes providing health, food education and nutrition assistance;

Amendment 73 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Beatriz BECERRA BASTERRECHEA, Marietje SCHAAKE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Is concerned about the millions of cases of statelessness all around the world, in particular in South and South East Asia, and expresses its solidarity with stateless people;

Amendment 74 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Is concerned about the millions of cases of statelessness all around the world ~~and expresses its solidarity with stateless people~~;

Amendment 75 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Is extremely concerned at the situation of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar; is appalled at the reports of massive human rights violations and continued repression, discrimination and non-recognition of the Rohingya as part of Myanmar society, in what looks like a coordinated campaign of ethnic cleansing; stresses that the Rohingya have lived on the territory of Myanmar for many generations and are fully entitled to Myanmarese citizenship, as they have held it in the past, and all the rights and obligations this encompasses; urges the government and authorities of Myanmar to restore Myanmarese citizenship to the Rohingya minority; urges furthermore the immediate opening of Rakhine State for international observers, NGOs and journalists;

Amendment 76 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Regrets that statelessness status is in some cases instrumentalised in order to marginalise specific communities and deprive them of their rights; believes that legal, political and social inclusion of minorities is a key element of a democratic transition and that resolving statelessness issues would contribute to a better social cohesion and political stability;

Amendment 77 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Recalls that the statistical coverage and reporting on stateless populations around the world is incomplete; notes that the issue remains hidden in many countries and that there are no reliable figures for the number or situation of the persons affected;

Amendment 78 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)

1b. Draws attention to the fact that statelessness can cause significant humanitarian crisis and reminds that statelessness persons should have access to humanitarian programmes; underlines that statelessness often implies lack of access to education, health services, work, freedom of movement and security;

Amendment 79 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)

1b. Is concerned that the data on the stateless populations of South and Southeast Asia is not complete and that we lack comprehensive data on statelessness for whole countries such as Bhutan, India, Nepal and East Timor;

Amendment 8 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 c (new)

– having regard to the EU Strategic Framework and Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy of 25 June 2012,

Amendment 80 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 c (new)

1c. Is concerned over the insufficient or the absence of intersectional, disaggregated data for any of the countries in the region on the situation for stateless women, children and other vulnerable groups; that this lack of intersectional, disaggregated data and information creates difficulties to analyse the circumstances for stateless persons on interrelated grounds such as gender, age, socio-economic situation or if belonging to vulnerable groups such as LGBTI or persons with disabilities, as well as difficulties to formulate the actions needed to reach the UNHR goal to end statelessness in 2024; strongly encourages the states in South and Southeast Asia to identify and produce intersectional and disaggregated data on statelessness;

Amendment 81 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 d (new)

1d. Welcomes the initiative from the Philippines in May 2016 to address the need for data on the scale and the situation of stateless children in the region; calls on the EU to support and cooperate with states in the region to comprehensively map statelessness and to identify projects to end statelessness in the region;

Amendment 82 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 e (new)

1e. Is deeply concerned that the States of Brunei, Malaysia and Nepal have discriminatory legislation based on gender; stresses the need for review of nationality law related provisions specifically in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women;

Amendment 83 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 f (new)

1f. Welcomes the positive developments in the region and the efforts in the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand and encourages the countries in the region to work together and to share good examples and efforts in order to end statelessness in the entire region;

Amendment 84 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 g (new)

1g. Reminds of the post-statelessness situation in the region and of the human rights principle of participation; promotes the inclusion of communities affected by statelessness and formerly stateless people in development projects and planning; encourages governments and development projects to address post-stateless discrimination inspired by article 4(1) in CEDAW aimed at accelerating de facto equality;

Amendment 85 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Whilst acknowledging national sovereignty over matters such as citizenship, urges countries with stateless populations to take concrete steps towards resolving this issue, in line with the principles enshrined in international conventions, always on the basis of the provisions of national legislation, provided that these are not at odds with the principles of international law;

Amendment 86 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Beatriz BECERRA BASTERRECHEA, Marietje SCHAAKE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Whilst acknowledging national sovereignty over matters such as citizenship, urges countries with stateless populations to take concrete steps towards resolving this issue, in line with the principles enshrined in international conventions and in particular the Convention on the rights of the child that they have all ratified;

Amendment 87 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Whilst acknowledging national sovereignty over matters such as citizenship, urges countries with stateless populations to take concrete steps towards resolving this issue, in line with the principles enshrined in international conventions; notes the number of positive developments taken in the region;

Amendment 88 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Whilst acknowledging national sovereignty above all over matters such as citizenship, ~~urges~~calls on countries with stateless populations to ~~tak~~identify the concrete steps ~~towards~~needed to resolv~~ing~~e this issue, in line with the principles enshrined in international conventions;

Amendment 89 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. Urges the government of Bangladesh to commit to a clear roadmap allowing for the full implementation of the 1997 Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord, thus allowing for the rehabilitation of displaced Jumma people who are currently living in India and stateless;

Amendment 9 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 a (new)

– having regard to the European Parliament resolution of 25 October 2016 on human rights and migration in third countries,

Amendment 90 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. Strongly encourages states to implement the safeguard, also enshrined in the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, that a person born in the state also will be granted nationality if the person otherwise would be stateless;

Amendment 91 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Welcomes the commitment of the Council in its Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2015-2019 to address the issue of statelessness in relations with priority countries and in addition welcomes the commitment of the Council to strengthening its relationship with (ASEAN);deleted

Amendment 92 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Welcomes the commitment of the Council in its conclusions on the Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2015-2019 to address the issue of statelessness in relations with priority countries and in addition welcomes the commitment of the Council to strengthening its relationship with (ASEAN); recommends that the focus of the efforts stretch beyond the emergence of stateless populations as a result of conflict, displacement and the break-up of states to also include other relevant aspects such as statelessness as a result of discrimination as well as due to a lack of birth and civil registration,

Amendment 93 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Recalls the action promised in the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy of the development of a joint framework between the Commission and the EEAS for raising issues of statelessness with third countries; the producing and sharing of a formal framework would be instrumental in the European Union support to the UNHCR goal to end statelessness in the world by 2024;

Amendment 94 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Calls on the EU to promote the setting-up of global solutions to statelessness together with specific regional or local strategies since a "one size fits all" approach will not be efficient enough to tackle statelessness;

Amendment 95 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3b. Believes that the EU should more strongly underline the major impact of statelessness on global issues such as poverty eradication, the implementation of the Agenda 2030 and the SDGs, the promotion of the rights of the child, addressing illegal migration and human trafficking;

Amendment 96 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 c (new)

3c. Emphasises the importance of an effective communication strategy on statelessness in order to raise awareness on the issue; calls on the EU to communicate more and better on statelessness, in cooperation with UNHCR, and through its delegations in the third countries concerned, and focus on the human rights violations as a consequence of statelessness;

Amendment 97 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 d (new)

3d. Calls for the EU to develop a comprehensive strategy to statelessness based on two sets of measures; considers that the first set should deal with urgent situations and the second one should define long-term measures to end statelessness; believes that the strategy should focus on a limited number of priorities and that the EU should take the lead in case of urgent situations to raise the awareness on statelessness at the international level;

Amendment 98 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 e (new)

3e. Stresses that the EU’s comprehensive strategy on statelessness should be able to adjust to specific situations faced by stateless people; stresses that in order to define appropriate measures, a distinction needs to be made between a statelessness as a result of a lack of administrative capacity and as a result of a discriminatory state policy against certain communities or minorities;

Amendment 99 #