European Network on Statelessness calls on all European leaders to sign the petition to demand protection for stateless persons in Europe.

The fact that there remain an estimated 600,000 stateless persons living in Europe today shows that action is long overdue. The time for action is now.

Recent research reveals that the absence of a route by which stateless persons can regularise their status leaves these individuals at risk of a range of human rights abuses. Many stateless persons find themselves destitute or forced to sleep rough on the streets. Others are subjected to long term immigration detention despite there being no prospect of return. Often stateless persons must endure years separated from their families abroad. Few are in a position to break this cycle, and as a consequence are left in legal limbo for years.

Timed to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the 1954 Statelessness Convention, this campaign will bring together a broad spectrum of actors and to put a human face on the statelessness issue. The campaign will culminate in a concerted day of action against statelessness across Europe on 14 October 2014 when this petition will be handed to European leaders.