recognized; the child is born in north Cyprus and therefore has no legally valid birth certificate; the application papers got lost, etc. 33. As a consequence, some mixed (TR & RoC) couples decide to get married and/or give birth in Turkey, away from friends and family. In the end this does not help in being able to obtain RoC nationality for their children. 34. For children born in North Cyprus, there is a risk of statelessness. If they are unable to obtain their Republic of Cyprus nationality although this is the nationality of one of their parents, and they cannot obtain any other nationality, they will be effectively stateless. This includes children who obtain (only) “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) nationality”, because the TRNC is not an internationally recognized state and so their nationality is not valid from an international legal perspective, nor from the Republic of Cyprus’ perspective. 35. In this light, it is important to refer back to the previous UPR recommendation to Cyprus by Slovakia under the first cycle to “do its utmost to guarantee that children, regardless of their descent status, are treated equally in law and in practice”. Equally, the obligations of Cyprus under the CRC and CERD, to ensure the right to nationality and protect against statelessness, and in particular, to not discriminate against the child, including on the basis of the ethnicity or other characteristic of the parent or guardian (CRC article 2) and to always act in the best interests of the child (CRC article 3), must be highlighted. Access to human rights based on nationality, ethnicity and residency 36. Despite all persons being entitled to human rights protection without discrimination, in the Republic of Cyprus, people face clear discrimination on grounds of nationality, ethnicity and residency, in relation to their ability to access basic human rights. 37. Right to healthcare (1948 UDHR, art. 25; 1969 ICERD, art. 5(e)(iv); 1989 UNCRC, art. 24): Although initially healthcare in the Republic was free to all RoC nationals,40 since 2012 people living in the north are excluded from free healthcare, including people in the possession of an RoC passport. According to the population, the quality of healthcare in the south is much higher than in the north. This policy therefore leads to unequal treatment among RoC nationals. Reports on healthcare in Cyprus only provide data about health care in the southern part of the island.41 38. Right to political participation (1966 ICCPR, art. 25; 1969 ICERD, art. 5(c); 2000 CFREU, art. 39 and 40): people living on the north side of the island, including those who have RoC nationality, are not allowed to vote or otherwise politically participate in the government of the Republic of Cyprus. 40 http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(05)71122-3/fulltext. Since 2003 the RoC wrote in their UN Human Rights Common Core Documents that they had adopted ‘several packages of measures for the benefit of the Turkish Cypriots that have led to tangible economic and other benefits to that community’, including free medical care and other social benefits. They argued that Turkish Cypriots ‘have the opportunity to acquire, access and make full use of their rights as citizens of the Republic of Cyprus’.40 However, these remarks are taken out of the core document from the 2014 version onwards. 41 Health at a Glance: Europe 2016 STATE OF HEALTH IN THE EU CYCLE; http://www.euro.who.int/en/data-andevidence/databases/european-health-for-all-family-of-databases-hfa-db; http://www.euro.who.int/en/countries/cyprus/data-and-statistics