The four indicators obviously differ in importance, and someone who has no birth registration will certainly not face the same threat as someone without a registered permanent residence, either temporary or permanent. Nevertheless, practice has shown that the lack of any of these official forms of recognition will make a person’s legal status more complicated, prevent them from accessing their rights, and put them at risk of statelessness. This is why the study gives equal weight to the lack of any of the four formal requirements as an indicator of the risk of statelessness. Given that 252 households include 359 members who lack at least one personal document that can result in or contribute to the risk of statelessness, it follows that 3.8 percent of those living in informal settlements are at risk of statelessness. Converting this percentage into absolute numbers, based on estimates of the number of persons living in informal communities, gives an approximate figure of 2,139 persons who are at risk of statelessness. The methodology employed in the 2015 survey looked at lack of birth certificate, lack of citizenship certificate, and lack of identity card (for those aged 16 +) as indicators potentially causing statelessness. Having a registered temporary or permanent residence was not considered a likely statelessness risk indicator in the 2015 survey. Using the same methodology for this Survey would reduce the number of households at risk of statelessness to 128, and the number of persons at risk in them to 255. This means 2.9 percent of all individuals in the sample households (9,218) are at risk of becoming stateless. If the percentages found in the representative sample are extrapolated onto the estimated population of informal settlements (56,276 persons), 1,576 persons are considered at risk of statelessness in this community. The survey conducted five years ago found 2,700 persons at risk of statelessness. The number of individuals at risk in this particular community living in informal settlements, has now fallen by slightly more than 1,100, a major improvement of as much as 42 percent relative to 2015. That said, it ought to be noted that the number of individuals without registered permanent/temporary residence, also considered persons at risk of statelessness in this Survey, is now higher than in the previous two rounds. This progress reveals that Serbia has dedicated much attention to addressing this issue, together with the UNHCR and human rights civil society organisations (CSOs). Nevertheless, the number of individuals who still lack identity documents and are often marginalised and difficult to reach, means there are space for improvement of the position of this community and reduction of incidence of statelessness risk in Serbia. 4.1 Demographics of persons at risk of statelessness Looking at gender, men are slightly over-represented in the category of individuals at risk of statelessness than both the national average and the overall sample. Men account for 72 percent, and women for 28 percent. PERSONS AT RISK OF STATELESSNESS IN SERBIA OVERVIEW OF CURRENT SITUATION AND THE WAY FORWARD 17