102 van Genugten et al. the recognition of nationality rights is possible without adequate birth registration, in practice the latter often serves as precondition for the first. In a lengthy UN report on the State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples16 the nationality issue is not touched upon in any systematic way, but one paragraph on the documentation of citizens is rather telling: Batwa living in the Democratic Republic of Congo have (…) lost their territories and thus their traditional livelihoods. A majority of the Batwa in the DRC are not documented as citizens, like other Congolese, preventing them from legally owning land, as land entitlements are tied to Congolese nationality.17 For indigenous peoples, the recognition of land rights is particularly important, considering the special, spiritual relation they often have with their traditional territories.18 The example illustrates that the right to a nationality is a precondition for the exercise of other important rights. The example relates to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but is, mutatis mutandis, relevant for numerous jurisdictions worldwide, although the specific rights do vary per jurisdiction, from voting rights to access to social security, from property rights to becoming a country’s Head of State. Laying the basis for legal recognition normally starts after the birth of a child. The UN report quoted above reminds the reader of Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which requires ‘that a child be registered immediately after birth’, while the Convention also recognizes the child’s right to acquire a nationality (Article 7 as well). The report adds that ‘[m]any indigenous people have neither’ and proceeds by saying that: When a child’s birth goes unregistered, that child is less likely to enjoy his or her rights and to benefit from the protection accorded by the state in which he or she was born. Furthermore, the unregistered child may go unnoticed when his or her rights are violated. Later in life, he or she will 16 17 18 HCR/GS/12/01, Guidelines on Statelessness No. 1: ‘The definition of “Stateless Person” in Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons,’ 20 February 2012. Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the UN Secretariat, State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (2009) UN Doc ST/ESA/328. Ibid, 35. See Jérémie Gilbert, Indigenous Peoples’ Land Rights under International Law, From Victims to Actors, (Transnational Publishers 2008). The Mayagna (Sumo) Awas Tingni Community v. Nicaragua [2001] Int.-Am. Ct. H.R. [2001] Ser. C 79. tilburg law review 19 (2014) 98-107