2020 Statelessness & Citizenship Review 2(2) The situation of refugees and their children is particularly challenging. 66 There are provisions in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees intended to govern the recognition or substitution of personal status documents issued in another country or that would normally be obtained from a consulate, but little guidance on the practical steps required to fulfil these obligations. 67 Even if substitute documents are issued, states do not always accord them the same status as originals. 68 UNHCR will attempt to facilitate birth registration for the children of refugees, but it is the host government that must carry this out. 69 A refugee status document will usually serve as sufficient proof of identity and legal status in the host country, enabling births and other civil status events to be registered there. However, a person seeking to register a birth may also require consular assistance to obtain copies of the other documents required (such as a marriage certificate, or the death certificate of the other spouse, if relevant). In some cases where a person seeks documents from a consulate, the host country may consider that the refugee ‘voluntarily re-availed himself of the protection of the country of nationality’ and therefore, though UNHCR urges otherwise, that refugee protection ceases to apply. 70 For the same reasons, refugees cannot generally approach the authorities of their country of origin in order to transcribe information in a birth certificate into that country’s registers, since to do so would put their refugee status at risk, or (even if not officially recognised as refugees) they may be afraid of the consequences. These difficulties mean that the nationality of refugee children born outside their parents’ state of nationality often remains legally uncertain, unless the host country provides a right to nationality based on birth and/or residence in the country. 71 Even if parents and child can 66 67 68 69 70 71 Jinske Verhellen, ‘Cross-Border Portability of Refugees’ Personal Status’ (2018) 31(4) Journal of Refugee Studies 427; Vincent Chetail, ‘Les relations entre droit international privé et droit international des réfugiés: histoire d’une brève rencontre’ (2014) 141(2) Journal du Droit International 447. Article 12 of the Convention relates to recognition of personal status, while art 25 provides for states to provide administrative assistance to refugees, including delivery of ‘such documents or certifications as would normally be delivered to aliens by or through their national authorities’: Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, opened for signature 28 July 1951, 189 UNTS 150 (entered into force 22 April 1954), (‘1951 Refugee Convention’). See also James C Hathaway, The Rights of Refugees Under International Law (Cambridge University Press 2005) chs 3.2.4, 4.10. Article 25 is also considered in Summary Conclusions: Expert Roundtable on the Right to Family Life and Family Unity in the Context of Family Reunification of Refugees and Other Persons in Need of International Protection (Report, UNHCR 4 December 2017); Frances Nicholson, ‘The “Essential Right” to Family Unity of Refugees and Others in Need of International Protection in the Context of Family Reunification’ (Legal and Protection Policy Research Series, UNHCR 2018). Similar provisions to those in the 1951 Refugee Convention are included within arts 12 and 25 of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons; there is no guidance on these obligations for stateless persons who are not also refugees: Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, opened for signature 28 September 1954, 360 UNTS 117 (entered into force 6 June 1960). A point considered in relation to family reunification in Tanda-Muzinga v France (European Court of Human Rights, Chamber, Application No 2260/10, 10 July 2014). UNHCR Executive Committee, Conclusion on Civil Registration (No 111 (LXIV), 17 October 2013). Article 1C of the 1951 Refugee Convention (n 67) provides that: ‘This Convention shall cease to apply to any person falling under the terms of section A if: (1) He has voluntarily re-availed himself of the protection of the country of his nationality;…’. For commentary, see Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status and Guidelines on International Protection under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees (Reissued, UNHCR 2019) 30 [121]. Gábor Gyulai, ‘The Long-Overlooked Mystery of Refugee Children’s Nationality’, The World’s Stateless: Children (Report, Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion February 2017). 260