this.25 2013 data showed that the average birth registration rate in Montenegro of 99.4% drops to 94.5% for children under five living in Romani communities. 26 Deep rooted antigypsyism continues to be one of the main hurdles to reducing statelessness among these communities.27 Issue 1 – Statelessness determination procedure and the rights of stateless people 17. Identifying stateless people in the country is the first step to providing adequate protection and rights enshrined in the 1954 Convention. Although the 1954 Convention does not specifically provide for how statelessness should be determined, UNHCR guidance has confirmed that this is best fulfilled through a dedicated statelessness determination procedure (SDP) with the necessary safeguards and procedural guarantees. It should be fair, efficient, and easily accessible.28 The lack of an SDP leading to a dedicated statelessness status results in a failure to uphold the rights of stateless people, leaving many facing years of uncertainty, social exclusion, risks of arbitrary immigration detention, and other human rights violations.29 18. Moreover, according to international norms and standards, statelessness status should include a residence permit, access to economic, social, civil, and political rights, the right to administrative assistance, exemption from requirements stateless people cannot meet because they are stateless, and other rights protected by international law. States should also establish a facilitated route to naturalisation so stateless people can acquire a nationality and resolve their statelessness.30 Identification of stateless people and statelessness determination 19. Montenegro established a dedicated SDP in the 2018 ‘Law on Foreigners’,31 which is a positive and welcome step towards better identification of stateless people in a migratory context. In November 2018, Montenegro adopted the bylaw ‘Rulebook on the Procedure Initiated upon Request for Statelessness Determination’ (‘the Rulebook’),32 which detailed how to operationalise the procedure, submit a request for statelessness status determination, submit a request for a travel document for a stateless person, as well as the format and content of the travel document. However, the procedure has many shortcomings both in law and in practice and does not automatically lead to protection. 20. Montenegrin law defines a stateless person as “a person who is not considered as a national by any State in accordance with its legislation”, which is narrower than the 1954 25 UNHCR and UNICEF, Civil Registration and the Prevention of Statelessness: a Survey of Roma, Ashkaelia and Egyptians in Montenegro, 2009, available at: https://www.unicef.org/montenegro/Booklet_Civil_registration_of_RAE_2009_ENG.pdf. 26 UNICEF & MONSTAT, Montenegro and Montenegro Roma Settlements Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, 2013, available at: https://app.box.com/s/zq4l86xhf53ck6gp2rftbr3cj3jazgdj. 27 Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, European Network on statelessness and European Roma Rights Centre, Roma Belong. Statelessness, discrimination and marginalisation of Roma in the Western Balkans and Ukraine, October 2017, available at: https://www.statelessness.eu/sites/www.statelessness.eu/files/attachments/resources/roma-belong.pdf. 28 UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, 2014: http://www.unhcr.org/uk/protection/statelessness/53b698ab9/handbook-protection-stateless-persons.html. 29 Statelessness Index, Statelessness Determination and Protection in Europe: Good Practice, Challenges, and Risks, 2021. 30 Statelessness Index, Statelessness Determination and Protection in Europe: Good Practice, Challenges, and Risks, 2021. 31 Law on Foreigners, Official Gazette of Montenegro, no. 012/18 and 003/19, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cgibin/texis/vtx/rwmain/opendocpdf.pdf?reldoc=y&docid=60a4edb84. 32 Rulebook on the Procedure initiated upon Request for Statelessness Determination, Official Gazette of Montenegro no. 72/2018: https://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain/opendocpdf.pdf?reldoc=y&docid=5c2f72924. 5