10 3. WHY ARE CHILDREN STILL BORN STATELESS IN EUROPE? This 25-year old woman was born in China. Her parents never registered her birth. Human traffickers brought her to Holland in 2003. She was issued a residence permit but in 2013 her permit was not extended. She now lives irregularly in Holland. She has had two children while living in Holland. Both children are registered as “nationality unknown” instead of “stateless” because she does not have any document. Dutch authorities have told her to return to China, but that is not an option for her. “If my children can be registered as “stateless”, they will be able to eventually acquire Dutch nationality and have more of a settled future. My children are now registered as “nationality unknown”. My children are in-between China and the Netherlands”. 80 The automatic granting of citizenship at birth to children who would otherwise be stateless, is probably the best tool to eradicate statelessness at birth and prevent its transmission from generation to generation. NILS MUIŽNIEKS, COUNCIL OF EUROPE COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS