Members of Parliament in Japan submitted the Bill for the Protection of Refugees and Other Persons to Parliament.
© Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan
stateless persons to obtain temporary identity cards
(IDs). The IDs will be valid for ten years, although
stateless persons will be required to renew them
annually. The law will enter into force on 23 August
this year. Former citizens of the USSR who did not
acquire the citizenship of any its successor countries
will be able to benefit from this new law. They will
also benefit from the right to work, the right of
residence, and access to naturalization.
On 12 January, the Governments of Haiti and the
Dominican Republic adopted a joint declaration to
launch a process to identify and register all Haitian
citizens on the territory of the Dominican Republic
who lack a birth certificate.
On 8 March, the Department of Brazzaville in
the Republic of Congo launched an awareness
campaign on birth registration and prevention of
statelessness. The campaign is supported by twenty
community-based volunteers trained by UNHCR.
The campaign aims to sensitize 40,000 households
and expand to other departments in April 2021.
Finally on Action 6, on 18 February, a coalition of
six opposition parties in Japan submitted a Bill for
the Protection of Refugees and Other Persons
to Parliament. Among other protection measures,
the Bill adopts the customary international law
definition of a stateless person and provides for the
establishment of a SDP, as well as for the reception
and integration of stateless persons.
On 15 January, the National Law on Comprehensive
Health Care and Care during Pregnancy and Early
Childhood was published in the Official Gazette of
Argentina. The law introduces substantial changes
to the late birth registration procedure, allowing
late birth registration to be processed through an
administrative procedure rather than only by judicial
decisions.
In line with Action 7, Ensure birth registration for
the prevention of statelessness, on 11 February,
the ‘Law on Amendments to the Law on ExtraJudicial Procedures’ entered into force in Bosnia
and Herzegovina. It enables courts to determine
the place and date of birth of persons who were not
previously able to provide documentary proof to
complete birth registration. The law is expected to
particularly benefit children born outside of hospitals
and children born abroad without a birth certificate
and to reduce the risk of statelessness among the
Roma community. The law’s enactment follows
concerted advocacy efforts by UNHCR and the legal
aid NGO Vasa Prava BiH.
Finally, on Action 7, the Government of Jordan has
continued its efforts to ensure that persons of concern
to UNHCR are issued with birth certificates and
other civil registration documents despite constraints
imposed by the current pandemic. In the first quarter
of 2021, the Civil Status Department issued a total of
616 birth certificates to refugees and asylum seekers
while the local shari’a courts processed more than
250 marriage and kinship certificates that are usually
needed to obtain a birth certificate.
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