ENSURING THE RIGHT TO A NATIONALITY FOR CHILDREN IN MIGRATION IN EUROPE 1 13 2 ADDRESS BARRIERS TO IMMEDIATE FREE BIRTH REGISTRATION STATES should introduce flexibility in documentation requirements and birth registration processes, and build the capacity of frontline registry officials, to ensure that stateless, undocumented or other refugees and migrants who cannot provide certain documents are able to access the right to immediate birth registration and reduce the risk of childhood statelessness. This should include removing any requirements for public officials to report people without residence status to the immigration authorities, introducing a “firewall” to prohibit information sharing for the purpose of immigration control to ensure access to birth registration for migrants. 58 THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE should work with Member States to implement the pledge it made at UNHCR’s High-Level Segment on Statelessness in Geneva in October 2019 to promote the right of all stateless children to have access to their birth certificate and any civil status documents concerning them. 59 This should include periodic monitoring and reporting on progress towards this goal. THE EUROPEAN UNION should promote universal access to birth registration among Member States in line with the European Parliament Resolution on Children’s Rights.60 This should include the European External Action Service continuing to support and fund efforts to strengthen civil registration systems and issuance of birth certificates in partner countries and promote the realisation of SDG 16.9 in development cooperation.61 3 BUILD CAPACITY AND RAISE AWARENESS AMONG OFFICIALS, CIVIL SOCIETY, REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS STATES should work in cooperation with civil society to build the capacity of frontline officials, service providers and support organisations in the migration context to facilitate an improved response to statelessness and nationality problems among children in migration, prevent new cases of statelessness arising, and ensure that statelessness is accurately identified, recorded and the rights of children respected. Create and distribute clear and accessible information at the national and local level for stateless individuals (on their rights, services, and specialist lawyers), those assisting them (on the relevant legal frameworks, caselaw, and signposting information), and decisionmakers (on the causes and consequences of statelessness, country of origin information, and common profiles of stateless people in Europe). THE EUROPEAN UNION should invest in and promote the integration of statelessness-specific resources, information and capacity across agencies involved in migration responses, including the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) and the European Border Agency (Frontex). EASO should incorporate relevant information on childhood statelessness across the work of its Information and Analysis Unit, in its Country of Origin Information, in its training development and delivery, and in its operations. Frontex should mainstream statelessness-specific knowledge and resources in its training and handbooks (for example, the VEGA Handbook on Children at Airports)62 to ensure that border guards identify stateless children or children at risk of statelessness in border procedures, and refer them to the appropriate authorities and services. Stateless children should be included in the agency’s definition of children at risk/vulnerable to abuse and exploitation in line with UNHCR and EASO guidance.63