45. The procedure for acquisition of citizenship by children of “non-citizens” was simplified in 2011 and 2013.39 Most importantly, the amendments to the Citizenship Law adopted in May 2013 simplified the procedure, by providing that a child may be registered as a Latvian citizen simultaneously with registration of the child’s birth at the Civil Registry Office, thus eliminating the previous requirement to seek naturalisation before the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs. In addition, according to the authorities, a new-born child can be registered as citizen on the basis of the wish expressed only by one parent. Between the ages of 15 and 18, children can independently apply for citizenship.40 After the May 2013 amendments, the number of children of “non-citizens” registered as Latvian citizens increased by 30%.41 46. According to official data, 235 newborn children were registered as citizens under the new procedure in 2015, and 69 children were granted the status of “non-citizens” based on the decision of their parents. From 1 January to 15 August 2016, 129 children were registered as citizens, whereas 27 children acquired the status of “non-citizens”. 47. The Advisory Committee of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, the independent expert committee responsible for evaluating the implementation of the Convention, recommended that Latvia automatically grant citizenship to children who otherwise would be stateless. The Advisory Committee stated that such a provision would be in line with Articles 3 and 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as with Article 1(1)(a) of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.42 In its response, the Latvian government maintained that Latvian citizenship to “children of non-citizens and stateless persons is granted automatically” and that the legislative amendments intended to adhere to international recommendations and at the same time take into consideration “the interests of a certain part of parents of non-citizen children, who wish to retain the non-citizen status for their children.”43 48. During the visit, the authorities referred to the same argument and underlined the reluctance of many non-citizen parents to register their children as citizens, mainly because of favourable travel regimes to certain foreign countries. In this respect, the Commissioner would like to stress that access to citizenship is a fundamental human right that in turn confers certain formal legal rights such as the right to vote and the right to be elected. A situation where certain categories of children may be left out of the protection system accorded by the institution of citizenship and deprived of enjoyment of certain rights available to others effectively amounts to difference in treatment. While acknowledging the right of parents to care for and protect their children, the Commissioner would like to stress that the authorities also bear responsibility for the well-being and development of Latvian children and should make every effort to stop reproducing the stateless population. He therefore strongly encourages further legislative amendments to make the process of granting citizenship to new-born children of non-citizens parents entirely automatic. 49. The Commissioner further refers to the January 2016 Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which recommended more efforts to ensure that all children have access to a nationality, including by reviewing the Citizenship Law to automatically grant citizenship to children born in Latvia who would otherwise be stateless, including children of parents with a “non- citizen” status or parents who are unable to transmit their citizenship to the child. 39 Second Opinion on Latvia, adopted on 18 June 2013: Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention on National Minorities, 3 January 2014. 40 Citizenship Policy in Latvia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 12 November 2015. 41 Resolution CM/ResCMN(2014)9 on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities by Latvia. 42 Second Opinion on Latvia, adopted on 18 June 2013, Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities: Strasbourg, 3 January 2014. 43 Comments of the Government of Latvia on the Second Opinion of the Advisory Committee on the implementation of the framework convention for the protection of national minorities by Latvia, Strasbourg, 3 January 2014. 12