II. III. Lack of information or awareness about the registration process among Roma; Prejudicial attitudes among officials and other stakeholders resulting in a lack of action to identify Roma who are unregistered and at risk of being stateless. 28. It is well documented that Roma in Albania are a target of antigypsyism. In 2011, the UN Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in its Concluding Observations, expressed concerns that “members of the Roma minority, especially the young, face ethnic profiling and are subjected to ill-treatment and improper use of force by police officers.”24 Hate speech and hate crime incidents have also been reported by civil society. However, according to ECRI, until 2015 the Albanian police have recorded only one hate crime in a case pending before the European Court of Human Rights25, and the Albanian courts have never made use of Article 50 of the Criminal Code providing for increased punishment for racist motivation.26 29. Government institutions’ failure to provide accurate statistical data for the Roma community, as well as a tendency to shift responsibility from one Ministry to another, and the lack of proactive work to mainstream activities on these issues, can also be interpreted as symptomatic of institutionalised prejudice against Roma communities. Legalisation of Documents of Children Born Abroad 30. Complexity and challenges related to birth registration are exacerbated in cases of children born abroad, especially for children whose parents live abroad irregularly. Such children are likely to not have their births registered, or only receive a birth notification which does not include the basic information (including name) required by the Albanian authorities to register their birth. In 2014, the Ministry of Interior, in collaboration with civil society organisations, identified more than 200 such cases. 31. To register the birth of a child born abroad, a birth certificate must be obtained from the country of birth and must be in the form prescribed by the law: a legalised act, translated into Albanian and notarised. This document must be verified by the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Interior of the foreign country (in most cases, but verification may vary from country to country). It must then be legalised at the Albanian Consulate in the foreign country. This document needs to be translated and the translation notarised. Once this has been done, the child can be registered with the civil registry office in Albania.27 24 CERD Committee, Concluding observations: Albania, CERD/C/ALB/CO/5-8, 14 September 2011, para.15. Available at: http://www.crca.al/sites/default/files/publications/Concluding%20observations%20 of%20the%20Committee%20on%20the%20Elimination%20of%20Racial%20Albania%282011%29.pdf. 25 Hysenaj v Albania, App. No. 78961/11 (EctHR); See ERRC, Third-party intervention in Hysenaj v Albania, App. No. 78961/11 (EctHR). Available at: http://www.errc.org/article/hysenaj-v- albania-third-party-interventionpending/4511. 26 ECRI, ECRI Report on Albania (fifth monitoring cycle), adopted on 19 march 2015, para. 48. Available here: https:// www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/ecri/Country-by-country/Albania/ALB-CbC-V-2015-18-ENG.pdf. 27 Until January 2017 it was possible to register the birth of the child in the Albanian consulate at the place of birth. 7