Good practices in nationality laws for the prevention of childhood statelessness Good practices in OSCE participating States OSCE participating States have introduced various good practices in their nationality laws and procedures which help prevent childhood statelessness. Selected examples are provided below. These examples are not intended to be a comprehensive summary of the approach to statelessness or nationality laws; shortcomings in laws and practices have not been included. Some examples may be historic. All examples illustrate an element of good practice, but in all OSCE participating States there is generally a need for more holistic, comprehensive approaches to statelessness. To comprehensively address statelessness, nationality laws must include the following safeguards: Born on territory: People born on the territory of X are citizens of X by birth. Born stateless on territory: People born on the territory of X who would otherwise be stateless are citizens of X by birth. Foundlings: A child shall be considered a citizen of X if he/she is found on the territory and his/her parents are unknown. Citizenship by descent: A person born to a parent who is a national of X is a citizen of X automatically at birth. Citizenship by descent statelessness safeguard: A person born outside the territory of X to a parent who is a national of X is a citizen of X automatically at birth if he or she would otherwise be stateless. Albania Population overview In 2018, the Tirana Legal Aid Society and UNHCR published a statelessness mapping study that identified 1,031 people at risk of statelessness, of whom 97 per cent were children.61 Most were entitled to Albanian nationality but faced barriers to obtaining confirmation of their citizenship. People from Roma and Egyptian communities comprised about half of the recorded cases of people at risk of statelessness, representing about 0.4-3.3 per cent of the Albanian population. According to UNHCR data, there were 2,203 recorded stateless people and people with undetermined nationality in Albania by the end of 2024.62 Not all in this group are necessarily stateless — a significant number of them are of “undetermined nationality” and may be Albanian nationals who will receive confirmation of this after applying through official procedures. 61 62 32 Mapping of the Population at Risk of Statelessness in Albania, UNHCR, May 2018. UNHCR’s Refugee Data Finder.