Statelessness in Germany: volume, social demographics and administrative processes (January 2023 – June 2024)

The UNHCR estimates that across the world, several million people are stateless. According to the German Federal Statistical Office, about 28,000 people in Germany in 2021 had no official nationality and are consequently recognised as stateless. The nationality of another 95,000 people is defined as “undetermined”. However, aside from these parameters, little is known about statelessness and undetermined nationality in Germany. 
    
The aim of the project is therefore to produce a detailed report on the phenomenon of statelessness in Germany. It is intended as an explorative, empirical investigation of the contextual factors for statelessness and undetermined nationality, using a variety of data sources. First, socio-demographic data from the Ausländerzentralregister will be used to create an initial, systematic overview of both groups. The second phase of the investigation will examine the administrative processes that are used in relation to stateless people and those whose nationality is undetermined, with the aim of identifying good practice that can be applied to different situations.

The research project is intended to heighten public and political awareness of statelessness in Germany; particularly in the context of the current reform of Germany’s citizenship law. Finally, the project will ask whether and to what extent it might be possible to undertake more detailed empirical research on the topic, especially in the form of a follow-up study with its own quantitative survey carried out with stateless people and people with undetermined nationality.

Initial findings have been published in the form of a policy brief in the first quarter of 2023, while a more comprehensive study is planned for 2024. The research project is funded by the Robert Bosch Stiftung.

Policy Brief

Living without a passport: The situation of stateless people in Germany

Contact

Maximilian Müller
Researcher
Tel +49 30. 288 86 59 – 14
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