REFUGEES FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION UNHCR, APRIL 2023 The situation is more concerning for children being looked after by respondents who were not their biological parents. More than 30 percent of adults surveyed said that they were looking after children who were not their own. In sixty percent of these cases, there was no official record of this fact, and only one third of these children held a birth certificate. Focus groups in DRC indicated that in Masisi, North Kivu, the Congolese authorities might refuse to register births on the (illegal) grounds that the refugee parents were not Congolese. However, in both North and South Kivu, focus groups reported that access to birth registration had become easier for children born in recent years, with the facilitation of humanitarian organisations. In Rwanda, focus groups indicated that the parents’ lack of identity documents or of a legally registered marriage could create difficulties in registering children. Although the Family Code provides for a process to fathers to acknowledge children born out of wedlock 79 , it was reported that some women had found it not possible to register children in the name of the father without a legally registered marriage.80 There could also be difficulties if the parents were of mixed refugee status and Rwandan nationality. If parents were looking after children that were not their own but members of the extended family, the recognition of the legal connection to the children could create challenges – for example, by creating delays in case of potential resettlement. Focus groups in Uganda indicated that refugees in settlements had some difficulty accessing civil registration services for births, marriage, deaths, and other life events because of the cost of travel to subcounty or district offices. In addition, they were sometimes required to pay for the certificates even though refugee birth certificates are supposed to be free of charge. Despite outreach and awarenessraising campaigns, the refugees were also unsure about the procedures for birth registration, and the assistance available from government village health technicians (VHTs) or NGO workers was intermittent. Most, however, have birth notifications issued by health centres (except for those born in Kiryandongo health facilities where gaps in issuing these documents were reported). There was, however, sometimes a confusion about what constitutes a valid birth certificate, and whether a birth notification was sufficient. Identity documents from country of origin and access to consular assistance Almost 90 percent of long-term refugees surveyed across the three countries had no identity documents of any kind from their country of origin. Of the remaining handful, some held a national ID, birth certificate, passport, or voter’s card, and others held documents such as vaccination certificates or education diplomas. Therefore, the only official evidence of their nationality of origin they held was their registration with UNHCR and/or national authorities as refugees originating from that country. Those least likely to hold documents from the country of origin were refugees from Rwanda, among whom 96 percent held no documents issued in Rwanda; while those most likely to hold such documents were refugees from South Sudan, among whom 69 percent had at least one identity document from South Sudan. 79 Law nº32/2016 of 28/08/2016 governing Persons and Family, as amended 2020, Art 262 80 This issue may relate to refusal of the father to recognise a child born out of wedlock, in accordance with the procedures of the family code. Law nº 32/2016 of 28/08/2016, as amended 2020, art.103: “The parent under whom the child is not registered first recognizes the child before the civil registrar in charge of child recognition for the child to be registered under his or her name.” 24