SN country scene

Statelessness Status Procedure

SenegalHumanitarian protection

Explore the five recorded questions, answers and sources for this pathway.

Official link

What exactly is this: asylum, temporary protection, humanitarian admission, resettlement or another protection mechanism?

A statutory statelessness-recognition status under Law 2022-01 on the status of refugees and stateless persons. The law's explanatory statement says a stateless person is one whom no State considers its national under its legislation, that before this law no domestic legal or institutional framework governed stateless status, and that the law introduces a framework for it.

See recorded sources

Which population, circumstances or geographic group does the mechanism cover?

It covers stateless persons, defined as anyone no State considers its national under its legislation, and applicants for stateless status, defined as anyone seeking international protection who has not yet been recognised as stateless.

See recorded sources

Where can protection be requested, and is this a direct application, border/in-country request, referral or other process?

Admission to stateless status is granted by decree after the CNGRA's opinion; the conditions and admission procedure are fixed by decree. The official source does not state where the request is lodged or whether it is a direct application.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The implementing decree is not in the captured sources, so where the request is lodged and whether it is a direct application are not stated.

What happens after the request: registration, family handling, major support and rights where officially stated?

A stateless person incurs no criminal penalty for irregular entry or stay if they present themselves within a reasonable time to the national authorities responsible for stateless persons and explain their reasons. No stateless person in Senegal may be expelled, and an applicant for stateless status can be expelled only after a final rejection. Family members of a stateless person who accompany or join them receive derived stateless status after verification of family links. The official source does not state registration steps or material support during the procedure.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • Registration steps and material support during the procedure are not stated in the law.

Which competent authority, UN body or official assistance channel should the person use?

The competent body is the CNGRA, attached to the Presidency of the Republic, which follows all stateless-status matters, protects and assists applicants and stateless persons, and gives its opinion on every application. A recognised stateless person receives a stateless-person identity card whose validity and renewal are set by decree, and naturalisation may be accelerated with reduced fees under conditions fixed by decree.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The law gives no contact details, UNHCR channel or fraud warning for stateless applicants.

These are the answers currently recorded in the catalogue. A missing or partial answer is not an eligibility decision.

Your story.
Your next step.

Explore pathways in Senegal →