BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA KOSOVO MIRALEM BIBEROVIĆ, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA In Bosnia and Herzegovina as throughout Europe, Roma communities continue to live on the margins of society. These communities often do not have access to information about birth registration or legal advice and assistance. To address this, from 2014 to 2017, UNHCR supported municipal level authorities, Roma representatives, and free legal aid NGO Vaša Prava BiH in conducting over 130 focus group meetings in Roma settlements across the country. The meetings were designed to raise awareness on issues related to birth registration, provide information on the administrative process, and identify community members in need of immediate legal assistance. Miralem Biberović assists the project partners and implementing authorities in one of these targeted communities. Miralem, a Roma man from Živinice, sums up the importance of this initiative, saying, “To meet relevant authorities in our communities and to get first-hand information about the risk of statelessness, especially for our children, makes our families do more to regulate their status.” ”People in our communities are living on the margins of society, and both the authorities and ourselves need to reach out more and be practical in ensuring that no Roma is left behind due to lack of birth certificates or documents” Miralem Biberović, Bosnia and Herzegovina AFTER WE RECEIVED DOCUMENTS FOR ELMEDIN, ALL DOORS ARE OPEN.” HATIP, GRANDFATHER OF ELMEDIN, 5, KOSOVO* Members of Ashkali, Egyptian, and Roma minority communities are those most at risk of statelessness in Kosovo. These groups’ histories of marginalization and poor socioeconomic conditions have resulted in a higher level of unregistered births than among majority groups. As Kosovo is not a member of the UN, it cannot be party to either the 1954 or 1961 Statelessness Conventions. Nonetheless, it has incorporated safeguards against statelessness, derived from these two conventions, into domestic law and practice. Legislative acts ensuring access to appropriate standards of treatment on determination of statelessness and late birth registration have been adopted. Kosovo’s Civil Status Law limits the evidentiary requirements for birth registration and allows for the possibility to register with the statement of two witnesses. While this * 14 • ENDING STATELESSNESS IN SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE provision goes a long way in making birth registration and obtaining legal identity attainable, this progress has been tempered by the introduction of compulsory fines for registering birth after 30 days. Once again, these fines are particularly burdensome for the Ashkali, Egyptian, and Roma communities they primarily affect. The authorities and UNHCR have been working together to address risk of statelessness in Kosovo by adopting progressive laws and policies. In addition, UNHCR has been providing legal aid and has undertaken extensive evidencebased advocacy, which led to the initiation of the drafting of the National Action Plan designed to tackle statelessness, related to birth registration, by 2024. In 2014, UNHCR offices in Pristina and Podgorica began a cooperation with the authorities to implement the 2011 All References to Kosovo in this document shall be understood to be in the context of Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999). ENDING STATELESSNESS IN SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE • 15