28 LACK OF BIRTH REGISTRATION AND THE RISK OF STATELESSNESS A statistical perspective on birth registration also hides the important fact that where children are nevertheless missing out, this is likely to be in situations where the consequent risk of statelessness is significant. In most cases, the acquisition of nationality and the registration of births are, in theory at least, two distinct processes: nationality is usually acquired automatically by operation of the law the moment a child is born if the prescribed jus sanguinis or jus soli connection is present, while birth registration is a separate administrative process through which a child is assured official recognition by the state of the facts of his or her birth. However, “persons without birth registration are more vulnerable to […] statelessness”227 and the registration of births of all children born on a state’s territory is a tool that helps to “safeguard their right to a nationality”.228 This is because by providing formal evidence of the child’s place of birth and parentage, the child will be better able to prove their acquisition of or entitlement to nationality of the state of birth or of the parents’ nationality, as provided for under the relevant nationality laws. The reason that in the European context, where birth registration rates are so high, there is cause for particular concern about the ability of the population of unregistered children – however small this is – to fulfil their right to a nationality is that the lack of access to registration in the European system is not just an administrative or statistical glitch. It is not the case that, at random, one in every x thousands of children does not have their birth recorded. Rather, European states appear to be systematically failing to ensure the registration of particular groups of vulnerable children – children of parents who themselves do not have a birth certificate or identification document being just one of these.229 Minority populations, in particular the Roma, also experience structural problems in accessing birth registration and citizenship.230 Children born to parents who are irregular migrants are another high risk group, prevented either by law231 or in practice232 from gaining access to birth registration systems because of their unlawful presence in the country – in spite of international standards guaranteeing the right to birth registration irrespective of a child or his or her parents’ legal status.233 Other children for whom birth registration can be difficult include: children born outside of hospitals, children born out of wedlock, children of same-sex couples, abandoned children, children whose parents have no fixed residence, disabled children, children of prisoners or detainees, children of internally displaced persons and children from rural poor families. Thus, to achieve true equity in the enjoyment of the right to birth registration, including in Europe, more must be done to identify and remedy the barriers to registration for these vulnerable groups and ensure equal access to procedures for all children.234 This is a key measure in the prevention of childhood statelessness in the region, given that those who are vulnerable include populations that experience discrimination or have a more complex position under nationality law (e.g. migrant background, abandonment or out of wedlock) and therefore the inability to secure proof of birth may more quickly prompt a problem of statelessness. BADEMA’S STORY Macedonia… Badema is a 26-year old stateless woman who was placed in an orphanage when she was three years old. Her birth has never been registered and she is stateless. Badema is now married (a common law marriage) with three children. Her husband is a Macedonian national, yet her children cannot acquire Macedonian citizenship because their births cannot be registered due to Badema’s lack of documentation. In fact, in order for a child’s birth to be registered in the municipal registry, parents have to show their own legal identity documents and proof of their civil status. As Badema cannot meet these requirements, her children also face statelessness. Badema is denied welfare benefits, does not have the right to employment or health insurance and lives with her family in a home with one room in an informal settlement. In order to survive she has no choice but to beg for money.235 ANDREEA’S STORY Romania… Andreea is eight years old and lives with her father and siblings. At the time Andreea was born her mother had lost her ID documents and so Andreea could not be registered because both parents need to prove their identity through legal documents in order to register a child. When the mother acquired her new document, more than a year had passed since Andreea’s birth and her parents did not know how to file for late registration. Andreea’s mother left to work in Bucharest after she acquired her new ID and the family has not heard from her since. As a result of Andreea’s lack of documentation she cannot go to school, does not receive any state allowances and cannot visit a doctor free of charge. Her father says: “She had a bad flu recently so we went to a clinic to get a prescription for medication, but to get the check-up and medication we used the certificate of her younger sister. It’s good they have no ID yet, the birth certificate has no picture on it, and she is quite thin and small so she can pass as being younger”.236 BLERINA’S STORY Albania… Blerina is an Albanian citizen and mother of three. Her children were all born in Greek hospitals but at the time of their birth Blerina could not afford the medical fees and was therefore never provided with a birth notification for her children. This put her and her children in dire circumstances when they returned to Albania and Blerina discovered that she could not register the children in the Civil Status Office in Albania. In fact, due to the lack of the children’s birth certificates, Blerina could not prove that she is legally the mother of her children and she could not secure Albanian citizenship for them. As a result, Blerina’s children were not able to be registered in schools, did not have access to healthcare and did not receive any welfare benefits. Today, two of her three children have fortunately acquired Albanian citizenship by judicial decision. Her oldest child is still not registered because the father (a Greek national) took the child from Blerina before the legal proceedings were completed and since the child has no records it is difficult for her to initiate an investigation to get her child back.237