21) Identifying the challenges related to universal birth registration in Ukraine, and the impact this has on the child’s right to a nationality as well as access to other human rights, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its most recent concluding observations on Ukraine in 2011, made the following recommendation: ‘The Committee urges the State party to adopt positive incentives so as to ensure that free and compulsory birth registration is effectively made available to all children, regardless of ethnicity and social background. In this endeavour, the Committee recommends that the State party abolish any punitive fines for the failure of parents to register their children. The Committee further calls upon the State party to intensify its awareness-raising campaigns to encourage and ensure the registration of all Roma children.’19 The Identification of Stateless Persons 22) Despite Ukraine having ratified the two UN Statelessness Conventions in 2013, the country’s legal framework does not include a statelessness determination procedure. This undermines the enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms of stateless persons and persons at risk of statelessness in Ukraine. 23) The obligation of the state to identify stateless persons within its territory or subject to its jurisdiction is implicit in international human rights law. According to the UNHCR Statelessness Handbook: “although the 1954 Convention does not explicitly address statelessness determination procedures, there is an implicit responsibility for States to identify stateless persons in order to accord them appropriate standards of treatment under the Convention.”20 24) Without accurate identification of stateless persons, there is currently no mechanism in Ukraine to ensure adequate protection of the rights of stateless persons as set out in international law. The Law of Ukraine “On the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons”, defines a “stateless person” as someone “who is not considered to be a citizen of any country in accordance with its laws.” This definition is narrower than the international law definition found in Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention, which defines a stateless person as someone “who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law”. This narrowing of the definition can result in a sizeable protection gap by excluding those who should be considered a national of a state under the letter of the law, but who are not in practice. 25) In December 2015, the State Migration Service of Ukraine developed a draft law that aims to introduce a statelessness determination procedure. Despite positive developments (such as the right of any person, regardless of the legality of stay, to access the procedure; the right to access statelessness determination procedure for children; the six-month timeframe for a final decision on the application, etc.), the draft needs further improvements on the following issues: - developing the definition of a ‘stateless person’ in accordance with the international law definition of Article 1 of the 1954 Convention; eliminating the requirement that persons recognised as stateless under the statelessness determination procedure will need to present a valid passport for receiving a residence permit; 19 CRC Concluding Observations on the consolidated third and fourth periodic report of Ukraine (21 April 2011), CRC/C/UKR/CO/3-4, para 36. 20 UNHCR Statelessness Handbook, para 144. 7