Statelessness Programme

Statelessness Programme

Statelessness is a global phenomenon that currently affects as many as 12 million people worldwide. New cases continue to arise every day as states struggle with the challenge of ensuring that everyone enjoys a nationality. For those who find themselves stateless, the lack of a nationality commonly obstructs access to a wide range of other rights, to detrimental effect. Moreover, the harsh impact that statelessness has on the lives of individuals and the fabric of communities may contribute to social tension, forced displacement and even conflict.

The past few years have seen a growing acknowledgement of the true magnitude and impact of statelessness. However, much work remains to be done in terms of developing a full understanding of the phenomenon and building the required capacity to address it. It is against this background that in the spring of 2011, Tilburg Law School launched the Statelessness Programme.

The goal of the Statelessness Program is to fulfil the need for a sustainable centre of expertise, which is dedicated to research, training and outreach in this fascinating field. With this complementary three-pillar approach, the Statelessness

Program aims to:

• engage in and provide support for research on statelessness;
• promote academic education and professional training on statelessness;
• engage in public debate and inform policy development by international, governmental, advocacy and service organisations.

Call for Papers: TLR Statelessness Special Issue

The Tilburg Law Review is currently accepting contributions for its forthcoming Statelessness Special Issue, to be published in January 2014. Contributions should consist of approximately 2500 words (with a minimum of 2,000 and maximum of 3,000 words) and be reflective pieces on the topic of Statelessness. The work should be fully referenced, although it need not deal with an already executed or completed piece of research. It can instead present and discuss overall conceptual issues of Statelessness or introduce research questions that are deserving of further attention.

The deadline for the submission of abstracts, to be approved by the TLR, is 1 June 2013. The deadline for the submission of full contributions is 15 September 2013. If you have any further queries on this matter, please contact: tilburglawreview@uvt.nl.