long-term migrants from Mali (over several decades) and wished to obtain Nigerien nationality had presented themselves to the audiences foraines established to provide late registration of births, on the understanding that the process to obtain nationality starts with acquiring a birth certificate. They were bemused that they had been rejected, believing that this showed discrimination against them. Yet the tribunal was simply applying the rules. For someone who is not familiar with the system, it is not at all clear why you can obtain a birth certificate only from the country where you are born, but nationality documents only from the country where you have a claim to nationality, which could be a different country – and what would be the appropriate procedures in each case (especially when the common law and civil law countries differ so radically in the way nationality is administered). Nobody had directed those same people towards an application for naturalisation -- which would be initiated at the mairie rather than the tribunal responsible for the process of late birth registration.249 4.8. Orphans and vulnerable children The longer it takes to establish a legal identity the more difficult it becomes. Those who are adults before they attempt to prove their origins and nationality may find it impossible to do so; or they may only succeed at great effort and cost. Those vulnerable children who are in situations of difficulty, and remain completely undocumented, are thus greatly at risk of statelessness. Paradoxically, their stories often become known only once they have resolved their situation, because of assistance given – but those who never receive assistance remain invisible. For these children, lack of a nationality may not be their most obvious or urgent problem; but a total lack of documentation means that statelessness is a real risk, and likely to be a more important issue the older they become. Among this group of the most vulnerable are:     children born out of wedlock, as well as children of unknown parents (both abandoned babies and older children separated from their families, for example by war) and children of mentally ill or intellectually disabled mothers (also almost certainly born out of wedlock). children working away from their families, whether trafficked or voluntary migrants, including domestic workers (largely girls) and agricultural workers (mainly boys). children entrusted under a system of guardianship, which may include some domestic workers, but also children enlisted for Koranic education. girls who are forcibly married, including in particular those within the system of “servile” marriage prevalent in Niger, Nigeria and some other countries, and their children. There are well-established networks of children’s organisations across West Africa, linked through the West Africa Network for the Protection of Children, the Union des Coalitions Ouest Africaines pour l'Enfance (UCOA), and other groupings.250 Among the major efforts of these networks is to reunite street children, trafficked children, and others, with their birth families. In addition, in many countries (especially those in the civil law tradition), it is a requirement for a children’s home to have a court order granting guardianship of a child, and to obtain a court order the child must have a birth certificate. Thus, children’s organisations are also often engaged in obtaining late registration of birth. Although the question of proof of the nationality of the child is not usually a priority, it may become relevant If a child in difficulty comes from another country. Even in these cases, the main concern is 249 250 Interviews, Tillaberi, Niger, May 2014. See website for the West Africa Network at http://www.resao.org/, last accessed 30 June 2014. 74