THEMATIC BRIEFING | MAY 2020 Birth registration and the prevention of statelessness in Europe 9 Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine, a child can only be registered if the parents (particularly the mother) are able to submit certain identification documents. In the Netherlands, a valid identification document is required for registration and, although certain options are provided for registering the birth of a child for parents who do not have residence status, if they are undocumented, it is difficult in practice to register the child. According to Germany’s Civil Status Act, children must be registered immediately, but certain documents such as parents’ birth certificates, marriage certificates and recognised passports may be required. Although the law allows for some flexibility, whether this flexibility is implemented in practice varies widely. If there is no marriage certificate, German officials may only register the name of the mother, which could lead to a risk of statelessness if the laws of her country of origin do not allow women to confer their nationality to their children (and the child does not acquire German or any other nationality). In Greece, birth registration for asylum-seeking and refugee children in some regions is particularly difficult and people who do not speak Greek may be turned away from the civil registry office if they arrive without an interpreter. In Cyprus, there have been reports of undocumented parents being asked to present passports before allowing birth registration to take place. In Switzerland and France, parents who lack documents have also reportedly faced barriers or delays to birth registration in practice. Such evidential requirements clearly impact on access to birth registration for refugees and migrants whose documents may have been left behind, lost, destroyed or never issued in the first place. Conditionality of birth registration on the parents’ residence status also hinders access for migrants with irregular residence status. Children born en route to Europe face barriers to birth registration, as few European states have provisions in place for these children to acquire a birth certificate or equivalent documentation.24 The strict and numerous evidential requirements for registering children’s births in some countries disproportionately impact on Romani and other minority communities who face difficulties meeting these documentation requirements, as is the case in North Macedonia, Serbia and Ukraine. Romani communities (including Ashkali, Egyptian and other communities) face intergenerational barriers to accessing documentation and are less likely to have their births registered than other populations in Europe. Despite legislative amendments and policy changes in recent years in attempts to simplify procedures and improve access to birth registration, challenges remain for Romani people, including deeprooted antigypsyism, discriminatory legislation and policies, and prejudicial attitudes of registry officials. Barriers to reproductive healthcare faced by Romani women also create difficulties for birth registration. Living in rural areas far from health centres, undocumented status and/or lack of health insurance or financial means may lead to Romani women giving birth at home, leading to reduced access to birth registration due to the additional documentation required.25