Statelessness Working Paper Series 2017/04 preventing statelessness could lead the authorities to restrict further the scope of the safeguard against statelessness at birth to prevent it being misused as a mean for parents having a child in Belgium to obtain a right to reside and work in Belgium. In the past years, Belgian nationality has been rarely granted on the basis of Article 10 BNC. In 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 there were respectively 6, 12, 11, 16 and 6 such conferrals of Belgian nationality.55 With the influx of asylum seekers and the increased risks of statelessness, it is surprising that only six children benefitted from the legal safeguard against statelessness at birth in 2015. 4.2. Registered Asylum Seekers, Recognised Refugees and Beneficiaries of Subsidiary Protection According to the Circular of 25 May 2007, registered asylum seekers, recognised refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection will not be subject to the exception clause found in Article 10(2) BNC. For registered asylum seekers and recognised refugees, this is explained by the very nature of their status, as by seeking refuge from their government, it is not authorized for them to contact the authorities of their country of origin as long as the procedure is ongoing.56 For those benefitting of subsidiary protection, this can be explained based on the expectations that their government authorities will not be functional. However, for formerly registered asylum seekers whose application have been rejected, they will not be exempted from the administrative steps to have his/her child recognised by the representative authorities of his or her country, unless the time limit to be registered at the embassy has been exceeded, in which case the child will be granted Belgian nationality.57 However, as specified earlier, the circular does not have legal value. Nonetheless, the Constitutional Court considered its content in a case before it on whether the new provision was discriminatory based on the aim and purpose of the legislator. The Court noted that Article 10(2) BNC should have a restrictive interpretation.58 It also recalled the exception for refugee and asylum seekers. It therefore seems that the Court's view is in line with the interpretation of the law found in the Circular. Accordingly, the exception to the acquisition of Belgian nationality for otherwise stateless persons provided for under Article 10(2) BNC will neither apply to registered asylum seekers nor to recognised refugees or beneficiaries of subsidiary protection. Thus, their stateless children born in Belgium should in theory be able to acquire Belgian nationality, as long as they do not acquire another nationality before they turn 18 or are emancipated, in which case they would lose Belgian nationality, as specified by Article 10(4) BNC.59 4.3. Stateless Persons Currently, there is no explicit mention in Article 10 BNC that a child of stateless parents automatically acquires Belgian citizenship if they are born in the country. UNHCR recommended the introduction in the BNC of an explicit statement that the exception of Article 10(2) BNC would not apply to recognised stateless parents,60 but the recommendation was dismissed by Belgian legislators. However, despite the lack of explicit mention, children of recognised stateless persons born on Belgian territory should, as they would otherwise be stateless, be granted Belgian nationality. 4.4. Migrants in Irregular Stay There is no obligation of legal stay in Belgium in order for Article 10(1) BNC to apply.61 However—as opposed to asylum seekers and refugees—migrants staying irregularly in Belgium are not exempted 55 Myria, La migration en chiffres et en droits, (2016), http://www.myria.be/files/MIGRA16_FR_AS.pdf, p. 64. Ibid. 57 Ibid. 58 Belgium, Constitutional Court, 24 April 2008, N°73/2008. 59 Belgium, BNC, Article 10(4). 60 UNHCR, Mapping statelessness (2012), p. 123. 61 Objectif, Attribution de la nationalité belge aux apatrides nés en Belgique (Article10), http://www.allrights.be/attribution-de-la-nationalite-belge-aux-apatrides-nes-en-belgique-art10. 56 9