documents to all those entitled to Macedonian nationality, or by ensuring access to facilitated routes to naturalisation for residents of North Macedonia who are not automatically entitled to Macedonian nationality (e.g. because their parents migrated from another country and are not Macedonian nationals). In August 2021, amendments to the Law on Citizenship were introduced36 which provide that all persons who can prove that they continued to live on the territory of North Macedonia after 8 September 1991 (by presenting at least one document issued by the Macedonian institutions at that time), may submit a request to acquire Macedonian nationality in a shorter procedure and are exempted from certain conditions that are mandatory for other foreigners. These amendments will be in force until August 2024, and are in addition to the already existing facilitated naturalisation for stateless people and recognised refugees. It is hoped that these amendments will resolve most statelessness cases of people who became stateless due to the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia. Since the adoption of the amendments to the Law on Citizenship in 2021, around 216 stateless persons acquired Macedonian nationality, of which 200 were under the simplified procedure and 16 were on the basis of marriage or facilitated naturalisation for stateless people (article 7a of the Law on Citizenship). Issue 2 – Child’s right to a nationality and to birth registration 33. Every child has the right to a nationality and to be registered immediately after birth. 37 These are core principles of international law which, if applied in a comprehensive and non-discriminatory manner, would end childhood statelessness. 38 States should have provisions in law to prevent statelessness at birth, including for children born to nationals abroad, foundlings, in the context of adoption, and provisions to grant nationality to all children born on the territory who would otherwise be stateless.39 34. Macedonian law contains some partial safeguards against childhood statelessness, but there are gaps. According to Article 6 of the Law on Citizenship, a child who is found or who was born on the territory of North Macedonia automatically acquires nationality if the parents are unknown, of unknown nationality, or stateless. 40 However, this provision focuses on the status of the parents rather than the statelessness of the child, so it does not cover children born to parents who may have a nationality but cannot confer this to their child. Moreover, as there is no procedure for determining statelessness in North Macedonia, proving the statelessness of the parents can be very challenging in practice. In order to align its legislation with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, Article 6 of the Law on Citizenship should be amended to automatically grant Macedonian nationality to any child born or found on the territory of North Macedonia who would otherwise be stateless. 35. In MYLA’s experience, there have been no cases of children who were granted Macedonian nationality under this provision on the basis that their parents are stateless. It is not clear whether the provision is applied in practice in relation to 36 Amendments to the Law on Citizenship: https://mvr.gov.mk/zakon/11. UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, 1961, Articles 1 and 4; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966, Article 24(2); Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, Articles 3 and 7; UNHCR, Global Action Plan to End Statelessness 2014-24 (2014): Action 7; UN Sustainable Development Goal 16.9. 38 See Article 7 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, read in conjunction with Articles 2 and 3. 39 See, e.g., UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, 1961: Articles 1-4. European Convention on Nationality, 1997: Articles 2 and 6. 40 Amendments to the Law on Citizenship: https://mvr.gov.mk/zakon/11. 37 8