residence because their parents often do not possess valid personal documents, which leaves them at risk of statelessness. There are also cases of intergenerational statelessness, as the parents of some of these children had already been born in North Macedonia but did not have their own births registered. MYLA has identified around 40 cases with this problem so far, although some of these cases are being resolved through existing procedures for facilitated naturalisation and for the registration of people identified in the public call. 25. North Macedonia has a definition of a stateless person in national law that aligns with the 1954 Convention, but it does not have a comprehensive legal framework in place to identify and protect stateless people. There is no statelessness determination procedure nor stateless protection status. There is a route to regularisation for some stateless people residing in North Macedonia since the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia, but the only other options are an application for asylum or a temporary residence permit at the discretion of the Government. Issue 1 – Reduction of statelessness of in situ populations 26. It is important to distinguish between the solutions required to address in situ statelessness and statelessness in a migratory context. For people who are stateless in situ, who have long-established ties to the countries where they are living, the solution is not to grant a protection status that prolongs their statelessness, but States should resolve in situ statelessness by granting identity documents, registering births, and confirming or granting nationality, including through targeted nationality campaigns or nationality verification efforts. States should also work to identify and eliminate discriminatory laws, policies, and practices that perpetuate intergenerational (risk of) statelessness affecting minoritized and marginalised populations.33 27. North Macedonia has taken significant steps towards reducing statelessness in recent years, including recent legal amendments to its legislation on civil registration and introducing a regularisation route for stateless people residing in North Macedonia since the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia, but some gaps remain. 28. As mentioned above, the 2018 Government-led public call resulted in the identification of 700 people at risk of statelessness. In 2020, a new Law on Persons without Regulated Civil Status came into force,34 although it failed to provide a systemic and effective solution to the lack of documentation and civil registration amongst a significant part of the population. The law initially provided for the issuance of temporary documents accompanied by a ‘special registration’ to persons who responded to the public call identifying themselves as persons without personal documentation. This would have enabled the persons registered under the law to access essential services such as healthcare, education, social assistance, and employment, and would also apply to children born thereafter who cannot obtain a birth registration certificate. However, the responsibility lay with the authorities to subsequently provide regular identification documentation and birth registration within 30 days of the temporary document's issuance. In practice, the authorities failed to fulfil this critical obligation, leaving the 33 Statelessness Index, Statelessness Determination and Protection in Europe: Good Practice, Challenges, and Risks, 2021: https://index.statelessness.eu/resources/statelessness-determination-and-protection-europe. 34 Law on Persons without Regulated Civil Status: https://www.slvesnik.com.mk/Issues/606043d405e847ee92c7eaed5c8bd389.pdf. 6