MAPPING OF THE POPULATION AT RISK OF STATELESSNESS IN ALBANIA nian territory – no age limits and no risk of statelessness should foreign parentage later be discovered. As such, the legislation is in harmony with the provisions of the conventions to which Albania is a state party in respect of protecting the right to nationality for foundlings. According to article 49 of Law no. 10129, dated 11 May 2009 “On Civil Status” as amended: 1. “The child of unknown parents is presumed born in the place where he/she is found and at the time that is determined by a medical report. 2. The child of unknown parents is provided with a record by the relevant bodies of public order and a medical report issued by the medical doctor of the area where it was found. 3. At the request of the civil status service or, ex officio, by the approval of the mayor/head of municipality unit/head of commune, where the child is found, it is assigned the name and surname, as well as names of imaginary parents, that can be changed at the request of the child, upon adulthood, or by the parents’ legal certification. 4. The above rules apply to children with unknown parents who suffer memory loss or are mentally disabled and cannot be identified. The situation can be changed for a found child, when the memory returns, he/she recovers from the mental disease or he/she is identified in any other way. 5. In all the cases provided in this Article, the found child is registered in the location where he/she will reside, except when he/she is found as an adult, speaks only foreign language and is registered as stateless person. 6. The criteria set out in this Article shall also apply to an adult person who has lost his/her memory, are mentally disabled, is found with a deceased parent or unidentified parent, except when the person speaks only foreign language. In this case, he/she is registered as a stateless person”. Foundlings thus acquire the Albanian nationality, with the location where they are found as the place of acquisition of nationality. However, registration is an important practical condition to the acquisition of nationality. Albanian law, regarding the registration process of a child in the office of civil registry, requires two key elements, first, a valid document certifying the birth and second, the person authorized to make declaration of birth. Registration as a foundling (according to the procedure provided for in the above-mentioned Article 49) requires the coordination of three institutions: the Municipal Unit or the Commune where the child is found (or the child lives), the Health Centre of that location and the Civil Status Office. These three institutions are obliged to identify such cases and, in cooperation with each other, facilitate the registration of the child. Specifically, the employee of the public order in the municipality unit or commune is obliged to bring the child and persons who accompany him/her to the Health Centre, which should provide the child with a medical report determining the gender and approximate age of the child, and together with the employee of the civil status office make a record, followed by the child’s registration. In practice, problems that have existed for years concerning civil registration in Albania and a failure to register children who did not have parental care, have created problems for persons who, for years, UNHCR - TLAS / May 2018 39