73 AGAINST ALL ODDS Despite their difficult situation, MDWs remain determined in their efforts to safeguard their children’s rights, including ensuring access to education and vital healthcare services. Fieldwork, KIIs and focus group discussions revealed that migrant domestic worker mothers to non-registered stateless children face multiple layers of discrimination related to their origins, status and condition. Their situation puts them in a more vulnerable situation than other parents of stateless children, preventing them of accessing theirs and their children’s rights. Nevertheless, and against all odds, MDWs mothers manage to provide for most of the basic needs of their children, whether in relation to food, medical care, or education. In this respect, many of the interviewed mothers through surveys or in focus groups affirmed that the health and education of their non-registered children is a top priority, no matter the challenges. They demonstrated their willingness to sacrifice anything to provide their children with these basic yet crucial necessities. For instance, 46 (98%) of the 47 households with non-registered children born to a MDW mother (parents survey) had at least one of their children vaccinated at birth, compared to 73% of the other surveyed households with non-registered children. In terms of education, 83% of households with non-registered children born to a MDW mother between the ages of 3 and 18 have at least one child enrolled in school, higher than the 72% of the other households. Fig 27. Do your children aged between 3 and 18 go to school? 6% 17% Yes No 77% Some of them “ I drop off my son at school pretending I am his nanny, in order to spare him from his classmates’ bullying for having a “black maid” as a mother… — Ethiopian mother to a non-registered child © 2023 Siren Associates. All Rights Reserved.