Peter Rodrigues advocates statelessness determination procedure
Since August 2020, Vasco has been living in a shelter for the homeless in Leiden, because he has no job and receives no social security benefits. He has no idea how long this will go on for. ‘I’m stuck in a vacuum. Because I don’t have a passport, I can’t register in Leiden, so I can’t get health insurance or a job. It’s a dead-end situation.’
Professor of Immigration Law Peter Rodrigues of Leiden University explains that Vasco is one of a group of stateless people. In Vasco’s case, he is a European who has ‘lost his Union citizenship’ and has ended up in a ‘prisoners’ dilemma’, in no man’s land. Rodrigues is in favour of a statelessness determination procedure in the Netherlands. ‘A bill is in preparation but this still has to be adopted by the Dutch House of Representatives and then the Senate. I cannot say how long that will take, but it could take a couple of years.’