children of stateless parents, although it is applied in other cases. 36. As mentioned above, many children in North Macedonia are stateless or at risk of statelessness due to intergenerational barriers to civil registration, which prevent their parents from confirming their Macedonian nationality and particularly impact Romani communities. A significant amendment made to the Law on Civil Registry, in June 2023, was the introduction of Article 4a, which now provides that all children born on the territory of North Macedonia must be registered in the birth register immediately after birth, and no later than 45 days after birth, regardless of the nationality or personal status of the parents. The introduction of this safeguard brings Macedonian legislation in line with the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child with regards to the child’s right to immediate birth registration. With the continuous, rightful, and effective application of this provision in practice, this amendment has the potential to provide a systemic solution to the current lack of birth registration among many children in North Macedonia.41 Issue 3 – Economic and social rights of stateless people 37. Statelessness may leave people at risk of living in poverty, destitution, marginalised, and subject to discrimination in their everyday life. As such, it is particularly important to ensure that mechanisms are in place to provide stateless people with access to economic and social rights, as mandated by the 1954 Convention. In North Macedonia, stateless people and those who are not registered in the birth register have limited or no access to fundamental rights such as healthcare, education, employment, financial assistance, and other social rights. 38. Stateless people have access to healthcare only if they are married to a Macedonian national or if they possess a valid foreigners’ residence permit. Children who are not registered in the birth register are not allowed to attend classes in some schools, or they may attend classes but are not issued school certificates. Stateless people usually do not have access to employment, unless they hold a foreigners’ residence permit. 39. It should be noted that stateless people are not the only population who faces discrimination and lack of access to their basic rights because of their status. There are many reported cases where former stateless people who have acquired Macedonian nationality may not register their residence and obtain a Macedonian identity card because they live in ‘non-legalised houses’ or informal settlements, or live in destitution. 40. Amendments to the Law on Registration of Residence and the Law on Identification Documents were adopted on 5 October 2023. Leading up to the adoption of these amendments, MYLA provided recommendations to improve this situation. On 13 June 2023, the ERRC recommended the establishment of a working group in the Government to adopt the necessary amendments to the laws preventing Romani communities living in informal housing from obtaining ID cards. The ERRC argue d that the Law on Identity Documents and the Law on Registration of Residence discriminate against Roma without a legalised address, as well as anyone who does not own or rent property. The ERRC also submitted a complaint to the Commission for Prevention and Protection against Discrimination arguing that this amounts to 41 See Statelessness Index, North Macedonia takes a positive step towards ending statelessness through amendments to its law on birth registration (September 2023). 9