Statelessness in Serbia 11. The groups most at risk of statelessness in Serbia are those who are not registered in the birth registry (legally invisible persons), persons of undetermined nationality, and persons who were registered in the registry books that were lost or remain unavailable to the authorities of Serbia. The great majority of these persons belong to the Roma community, which is one of the most vulnerable minorities in Serbia, exposed to discriminatory treatment in almost every area of life.12 12. According to research conducted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 2015, 1% of the Roma living in “Roma” settlements (of around 700 people) are not registered in birth registry books.13 The same research also revealed that 8% of children under the age of four in “Roma” settlements are not registered in birth registry books.14 According to 2014 data, 5% of Roma children from informal settlements under the age of five are not registered in birth registry books.15 This information points to the fact that a considerable number of children are still not registered immediately after birth. 13. In addition to such legally invisible persons, some people are at risk of statelessness because they are not registered as Serbian citizens despite meeting all necessary legal requirements. These people must then initiate the procedure for determination of citizenship, with success depending on the evidence they present.16 Another group of people who face a risk of statelessness are those who were registered in the registry books in Kosovo, which were either destroyed or lost during the 1999 conflict, or are considered unavailable by the authorities of the Republic of Serbia.17 There is no official, reliable, disaggregated data on this group. However, the scale of the problem is also evidenced by the number of persons at risk of statelessness identified by Praxis: in 2016 and during the first five months of 2017 Praxis, as a legal aid provider, identified more than 400 new cases of persons at risk of statelessness. This means persons for whom it was necessary to initiate procedures for the registration of birth, personal name or citizenship.18 The Right of Every Child to Birth Registration 14. Article 7(1) of the CRC and Article 24(3) of the ICCPR provide that every child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have a name. The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia guarantees to everyone the right to legal personality and to every child the right to a name and the right to be registered in the birth registries. 12 European Commission, Serbia 2016 Report, Communication on EU Enlargment Policy, COM(2016)715, Brussels, 9.11.2016, available at: https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhoodenlargement/sites/near/files/pdf/key_documents/2016/20161109_report_serbia.pdf, p. 52. 13 UNHCR, Persons at Risk of Statelessness in Serbia, Progress Report 2010-2015, Belgrade, June 2016, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/57bd436b4.html, p. 19. 14 UNHCR, Lica u opasnosti od apatridije – Ocena napretka 2010-2015, Belgrade, June 2016, available at: http://www.unhcr.rs/media/docs/UNHCR_Brosura_Apatridi_SRPSKI.pdf, p. 21. 15 Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia and UNICEF, Serbia Multiple Cluster Survey and Serbia Roma Settlements Indicator Cluster Survey, 2014, Final Reports, Belgrade, December 2014, p. 200, available at: https://www.unicef.org/serbia/Serbia2014MICS_NationalandRomaSettlements_Eng_2015FINAL.pdf 16 For more details see Praxis, Preventing Childhood Statelessness – Remaining Problems in Serbia, May 2015, available at: https://www.praxis.org.rs/images/praxis_downloads/Preventing_Childhood_Statelessness_-_Remaining_Problems_in_Serbia.pdf. 17 For more details, see paragraphs 25-27. 18 From 1 January 2016 until 31 March 2017 Praxis identified 421 persons for whom it was necesarry to inititiate the following procedures: re-registration in registry books (23 persons), determination of citizenship (78 person), registration of the fact of citizenship (64 persons), determination of personal name (97 persons), late birth registration (40 persons) and determination of date and place of birth (119 person). 4