The Roma and other ethnic minorities | THE F ormer yugoslav republic of macedonia The lack of documentation not only affects the Roma’s ability to confirm or acquire the citizenship of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia but also hampers their access to education, healthcare, employment, social assistance and other basic rights available to citizens. The main obstacle to obtaining a national I.D., which is key to accessing State services, is the requirement of permanent legal residency. Most Roma live in informal settlements or unauthorized housing arrangements, as they cannot afford permanent dwellings. Fatmira Mustafa, a mother of four, collects rubbish from bins for a living. She lives on the edge of the northern suburb of Suto Orizari, where her little hut without water or electricity sits next to piles of rubbish. More than half of the Roma community of Skopje 24 • UNHCR STATELESSNESS REPORT 2017 live in Suto, as it is locally known, the only one of the ten municipalities in Skopje with a Roma mayor. Recently, Fatmira learned that an Albanian man had bought the plot of land on which she and her family are squatting. Ever since, she has been anx­ iously waiting for the day that the owner knocks on her door to show her the docu­ ments that entitle him to the piece of land. Those with origins in other former Yugoslav republics are asked to produce documents that certify that they are not nationals of any other successor state to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. “The authorities told me that I had to go to Kosovo to get a certificate that I was not a citizen of Kosovo. But how could I travel there without documents?” asks Sutki Fatmira Mustafa, 32, Skopje, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. 2017 UNHCR STATELESSNESS REPORT • 25