Court name: Federal Administrative Court of Switzerland
Date of decision:

The applicant was a Syrian national of Kurdish ethnicity, who unsuccessfully applied for asylum in Switzerland. He subsequently claimed that he has been deprived of Syrian nationality and therefore ought to be recognised as stateless. The State Secretariat for Migration and the Court decided that he did not meet the standard of proof to substantiate his statelessness of 'full proof'.

Court name: Gent Court of Appeal
State: Belgium
Date of decision:

The applicant arrived in Belgium in 2000 from Kazakhstan. He claimed to have lost his Kazakh nationality on the basis of a Kazakh law providing for such loss in case of permanent residence abroad for over 3 years without registration at the consulate. The Court studied the relevant Kazakh legislation as well as the implementing Presidential Decree, and found that such loss is not automatic, but requires a decision of a competent authority instead, and therefore the applicant's statelessness was not sufficiently substantiated. 

Court name: Paris Administrative Court of Appeal
State: France
Date of decision:

The applicant lost her Khazakh nationality by operation of law due to not having registered with Khazakh consular authorities within 3 years of her departure. In these three years she had an asylum claim pending in France, and therefore could not have been expected to contact Khazakh authorities. OFPRA rejected her application for stateless status as she did not demonstrate to have made sufficient efforts to regain her Khazakh nationality.