Reference:
https://www.refworld.org/policy/strategy/unhcr/2024/en/148761
Online Marketplace Project Snapshot
Closing the Protection Gap: Addressing Statelessness among Roma Refugees from Ukraine in Poland
Europe
Closing the Protection Gap: Addressing Statelessness among Roma Refugees from Ukraine in Poland
Halina Nieć Legal Aid Center
50,000 USD
6-12 months
SDGs 10, 16 and 17
- Action 1: Resolve major situations of statelessness
- Action 2: Ensure that no child is born stateless
- Action 6: In migratory context, determine statelessness, and protect and facilitate naturalization of stateless persons
- Action 7: Ensure birth registration for the prevention of statelessness
- Action 8: Issue nationality documentation to those with entitlement to it to prevent statelessness
- Action 9: Accede to the un statelessness conventions
- Action 10: Improve quantitative and qualitative data on stateless populations
- Action 11: Ensure stateless persons can enjoy their rights
Poland is hosting nearly 1 million refugees from Ukraine under the EU Temporary Protection Directive (TPD). While this framework has provided crucial assistance, many refugees continue to face legal uncertainty, especially as long-term solutions such as post-TPD residency remain undefined. Among those most at risk are stateless persons and individuals at risk of statelessness from Ukraine - primarily undocumented Roma with unresolved legal status. Roma refugees from Ukraine face multiple and intersecting vulnerabilities. Ethnic discrimination, poverty, and marginalization are compounded by their refugee status and, in some cases, disabilities. It is estimated that around 15,000 – 20,000 Roma are among the approximately 970,000 Ukrainian refugees in Poland, with about 5% overall having disabilities. Despite Ukraine hosting one of the largest stateless populations in Europe including many undocumented Roma the number of such individuals registered for TPD is negligible. This reveals a significant protection gap preventing stateless Roma from accessing legal TPD status, rights, and services. Several factors contribute to this underrepresentation. One is the design of EU inclusion criteria, which require proof of permanent legal stay or a protection status in Ukraine documents many stateless Roma never possessed. The second lies in Poland’s weak legal and institutional framework on statelessness. Poland has not acceded to the Statelessness Conventions, lacks a national definition of statelessness, and has no dedicated statelessness determination procedure. These long-standing deficiencies, exposed by the Ukrainian humanitarian crisis, leave stateless Roma in a continuing protection gap with no official data collection or national strategies to address their exclusion.
Poland has become a top host country for a wave of refugees from Ukraine and quickly adapted its law so as to implement a system of temporary protection. Although the procedure for accessing protection has been simplified in order to facilitate its application to all those with Ukrainian citizenship, stateless persons, persons at risk of statelessness and those undocumented have not been equally accommodated. Moreover with Polish legal framework on TPD coming to an end in March 2026 and the EU TPD expiring in March 2027, this excluded category of persons may face substantial difficulties due to their unresolved legal status. This project seeks to remedy the protection gap the Ukrainian Roma refugees face in Poland, by researching in detail their situation, scope of statelessness and its consequences. This will be accomplished by carrying out a mapping study of Roma from Ukraine, assessing the rate of statelessness within this group and evaluating risks leading to statelessness such as lack of documentation, and their access to rights, legal status, main obstacles in receiving documents and protection. The study will be based on desk research, interviews and case studies. Collected data will be used in a report providing assessment of the situation and formulating concrete recommendations to best answer the plight of this excluded community. The report will be used for advocacy during a roundtable with stakeholders, with a view to convince Poland to improve its legislation and identification of statelessness and to accede to UN statelessness conventions.
The Halina Nieć Legal Aid Center (HNLAC) is a public benefit organization established in 2002 in Kraków. We are a team of lawyers specializing in human rights, asylum and migration law. Over 23 years of our work we have provided free legal assistance to more than 38,000 people - refugees, stateless persons and foreign nationals seeking protection from persecution. Since 2003 we have been UNHCR’s legal partner. In addition to individual assistance, we conduct human rights monitoring, reporting, advocacy and education. HNLAC is a member of the Global Alliance and is a lead in this project. Towards Dialogue Foundation implements its mandate to protect and promote human rights for all, including refugees and people at high risk of exclusion, with a special focus on Roma people in critical situations. Founded in 2012, Foundation Towards Dialogue has supported more than 12,000 Roma refugees from Ukraine and runs the first Roma community centre of its kind in Poland. We provide a wide range of services — legal aid, educational programmes, psychological support, and initiatives that encourage women’s independence — and run leadership academies for Roma women and youth. We work to increase the visibility of Roma communities, promote anti-discrimination practices, and build stronger, empowered Roma communities through multicultural and anti-discrimination education. Our advocacy activities include lectures, publications, the preparation of research reports and policy briefs, and public support for community initiatives.
Roma refugees from Ukraine in Poland, who are stateless or at risk of statelessness and face difficulties in accessing protection, documentation, and resolving their legal status.
Stateless persons in Poland or persons at risk of statelessness, Ministry of Interior, Office for Foreigners, Border Guards and other stakeholders who play a part in asylum and migration procedures and refugee and migration management.
50,000 USD
50,000 USD
Why this project needs your support
Members of the Global Alliance to End Statelessness are driving innovative projects around the world, and we invite you to be part of this vital work. This snapshot gives you a brief look at one such initiative that needs your support. By contributing to projects like this, you can help create lasting change, uplift communities, and restore dignity to millions of people. Your involvement is crucial – together, we can turn the tide and build a future where statelessness is a thing of the past.
How to support
To support this initiative, please contact the Global Alliance Secretariat at stalliance@unhcr.org.
Together, we can turn the tide against statelessness and create a world where everyone enjoys their right to a nationality, and can fully contribute to society.
Disclaimer: The listing of snapshots on the Online Marketplace or inclusion in the offline repository, and their pitching to potential donors by the Global Alliance Secretariat, does not represent an endorsement by the Global Alliance, its members, or UNHCR as the Secretariat of the Global Alliance. All due diligence, background checks, and financial or legal accountability considerations are the sole responsibility of the donors concerned and should be conducted in accordance with their own regulations and requirements. The Global Alliance and its Secretariat do not endorse, participate in, or bear any legal or financial responsibility for the funding agreements or their implementation. For clarifications and additional information, please contact the Global Alliance Secretariat at stalliance@unhcr.org