SAF(E): Statelessness Awareness Forum Europe 2026

Name: SAF(E): Statelessness Awareness Forum Europe 2026
Start: 2026-03-19 00:00
End: 2026-03-22 18:00
Location: Sliema, Malta

Sliema, MaltaMarch 19—22nd, 2026

Event

SAF(E) 2026

Location

Sliema, Malta

On March 19—22nd, 2026, AX Victoria Hotel in Sliema hosted the 3rd Statelessness Awareness Forum (Europe) — SAF(E). Representatives of international organisations, NGOs, students, and people with lived experience of statelessness discussed practical ways to achieve sustainable impact.

Albert Ioffe, Legal and Compliance Officer at Immigrant Invest, attended SAF(E) to share his personal experience and tell about alternative pathways out of statelessness.

SAF(E) 2026 was organised by Apatride Network as the third edition of its international forum on statelessness. The 2026 theme — Achieving Sustainable Impact — focused on moving beyond discussion and advocacy towards practical solutions that can improve the rights, legal status, and everyday lives of stateless people.

The forum brought together university students, professionals, legal experts, civil society representatives, and stateless participants from across Europe. The programme included lectures, roundtables, workshops, participant presentations, and networking sessions aimed at developing action plans and creative responses.

Immigrant Invest representative at the forum

Albert Ioffe

Legal and Compliance Officer, certified CAMS specialist

Highlights of SAF(E) 2026

SAF(E) 2026 centred on one key question: how to turn advocacy on statelessness into measurable and lasting impact. The programme covered the following topics:

meaning of impact in statelessness work;
importance of storytelling in changing public understanding of statelessness;
legal barriers faced by stateless communities in Europe;
practical pathways out of statelessness.

Participants explored the issue from legal, social, and strategic perspectives, with special attention to the voices of stateless people themselves. The forum examined not only legal definitions and institutional barriers, but also how statelessness affects access to citizenship, documents, education, healthcare, financial services, and other basic rights.

Several discussions examined the situation of Latvian non-citizens as the largest stateless community in the EU and considered recent legal developments that may create more dignified pathways out of statelessness for thousands of people.

The forum concluded with a gala dinner and the Statelessness Impact Award ceremony. The first award was presented to Ghada Alrayan in recognition of her eight-year legal victory in Switzerland. Her case set an important precedent for the recognition of Syrian-born Palestinians as de jure stateless and improved access to residency and rights for similarly situated people.

Immigrant Invest at the forum

Albert Ioffe contributed to SAF(E) 2026 both as a speaker with professional expertise and as a person directly affected by statelessness.

During the forum, Albert shared the story of his legal case in Latvia. Although he was born in Latvia and passed all citizenship exams, his naturalisation application was rejected on the grounds of ‘insufficient integration.’ His case showed that even when stateless people meet formal requirements, legal and administrative barriers may still block access to citizenship.

One of Albert’s key contributions to the forum was his session on Alternative Pathways out of Statelessness. The discussion focused on routes that are often overlooked in mainstream advocacy, yet may offer real solutions in individual cases. The two routes explored by Albert are:

Citizenship by descent, or jus sanguinis. This route is suitable for people who may be able to confirm ancestral links to another country through genealogical research. For some stateless individuals, this route can open a realistic path to legal belonging when standard naturalisation remains blocked.
Citizenship by investment. Some countries, including Grenada, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Nauru, may accept stateless applicants under their programmes provided they meet compliance requirements and can prove the lawful origin of funds.

Albert Ioffe’s participation in the Forum reflected the company’s engagement with complex citizenship issues not only from a legal and compliance perspective, but also through real-world cases that reveal how citizenship laws affect people’s lives.