ISI Database on Statelessness and
Human Rights

23. While noting the disproportionate barriers to access to birth registration for children of indigenous communities, the Committee takes note of target 16.9 of the Sustainable Development Goals and urges the State party to:

(a) Ensure the issuance of birth certificates for all children born in its territory, in particular indigenous children, immediately after the birth;

(b) Amend the Citizenship Act to include a definition of stateless person in accordance with international law and consider ratifying the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons.

20. Taking note of target 16.9 of the Sustainable Development Goals, the Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Ensure that there are no legal and administrative obstacles to obtaining Croatian citizenship following home births and online confirmation of birth through the E-Citizen application, including for children of minority groups;

(b) Consider ratifying the 1997 European Convention on Nationality and the 2009 Council of Europe Convention on the avoidance of statelessness in relation to State succession.

33. Taking note of target 16.9 of the Sustainable Development Goals, the Committee strongly urges the State party to:

(a) Enact civil registration legislation and policies and provide the necessary resources to establish registration that is free of charge of all children born in its territory;

(b) Promote and raise awareness of the public on the importance of the registration of children;

(c) Step up and accelerate the adoption of the Citizenship Amendment Bill and other legislative measures to ensure non-discriminatory access to nationality for all children, including children born to Somali mothers and foreign fathers;

(d) Consider ratifying the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

35. With reference to joint general comments No. 3 and No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families/No. 22 and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the human rights of children in the context of international migration, the Committee urges the State party to: (...)

(g) Gather sex- and age-disaggregated statistics on the current number of asylum-seeking, refugee and stateless children as well as unaccompanied and separated children and those who are being rejected to formalize an asylum petition and expressly include these groups in planning activities and in economic and social indicators and statistical data;

(k) Incorporate the right to a nationality, include legal safeguards to prevent statelessness, and define statelessness determination procedures, in the law on Guarantees for the Protection of Children.

21. The Committee notes the information that more than 99 per cent of births occur at health centres where birth registration procedures are carried out and recommends that the State party further create a conducive environment for the discharge of the obligation to report a birth to the civil registry within 30 days after its occurrence.

22. The Committee welcomes Decree Law No. 352 on the acquisition of Cuban citizenship for those born abroad of a Cuban mother or father, of 2017, facilitating access to Cuban nationality for children born abroad, and recommends that the State party consider ratifying the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, of 1954, and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, of 1961. 

53. The Committee notes positively that, in 2018, the State party adopted a specific law to protect stateless persons and facilitate their naturalization (Act No. 6149), in accordance with international standards. However, the Committee is concerned that the necessary measures have not been taken to implement and enforce it through decrees and administrative procedures and that this delay continues to negatively affect children of Paraguayan parents. (...)

55. The Committee recommends that the State party adopt implementing regulations for Act No. 6149 and report on its implementation, including with respect to the steps taken to ensure that migrants living abroad are aware of its existence and functioning and can apply for Paraguayan nationality from abroad. The Committee further recommends that the State party collect and publish data on how many stateless persons there are, what their status is and whether they have been naturalized.

56. The Committee recommends that the State party consider the possibility of recognizing dual nationality and allowing applications for dual nationality to be made at consulates. The Committee further recommends that, in cases where there is a risk of statelessness, Paraguayan nationality should be granted as quickly as possible and it should be possible to apply at a consulate.

40. With reference to its previous recommendations,12 and in accordance with its general comment No. 5 (2021), the Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Adopt measures to phase out, and ultimately put an end to, immigration detention; enact a presumption in law against detention and therefore in favour of freedom; and immediately cease migration detention of vulnerable groups of migrant workers and members of their families as well as asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons;

(b) Ensure that:

(iv) In line with its human rights obligations, alternative measures to detention are considered and made use of before imposing detention measures. The Committee recognizes as alternatives to detention all community-based care measures or non-custodial accommodation solutions – in law, policy or practice – that are less restrictive than detention and which must be considered in the context of lawful detention decision procedures to ensure that detention is necessary and proportionate in all cases, with the aim of respecting the human rights and avoiding the arbitrary detention of migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons;

54. In line with joint general comments No. 3 and No. 4 of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families / No. 22 and No. 23 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and in accordance with target 16.9 of the Sustainable Development Goals, the Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Ensure that all children of Cabo Verdean migrant workers abroad and children born on the territory of the State party, in particular children born to migrants in an irregular situation and asylum seekers, are registered at birth and issued personal identity documents, and that it raise awareness on the importance of birth registration among them;

(b) Take the necessary measures, including legislative measures, to facilitate access to Cabo Verdean nationality to children born to migrant workers and members of their families in the State party, in particular for those in an irregular situation, in order to avoid any risk of their becoming stateless;

(c) Ratify or accede to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness

15. Bearing in mind its general recommendation No. 30 (2004) on discrimination against non-citizens, the Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Continue its efforts to reduce the number of persons with undetermined citizenship by identifying them and assisting them in gaining access to citizenship;

(b) Continue its efforts to raise awareness about statelessness among stakeholders and expand the cooperation with local governments to effectively identify stateless persons;

(c) Consider ratifying the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness;

(d) Adopt a national plan to end statelessness in the context of the application of the Global Action Plan to End Statelessness 2014–2024.

49. (...) The Committee also encourages the State party to accede to the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

57. The Committee wishes to draw the attention of the State party to the particular importance of the recommendations contained in paragraphs 15 (persons with undetermined citizenship), 25 (discrimination based on language proficiency), 27 (legislation regarding hate crime and hate speech) and 39 (education of Roma children) above and requests the State party to provide detailed information in its next periodic report on the concrete measures taken to implement those recommendations.

5. Recalling paragraphs 10 to 12 of its guidelines for reporting under the Convention and its previous recommendation, the Committee recommends that the State party collect and provide to the Committee reliable, updated and comprehensive statistical data on the demographic composition of the population, based on the principle of self-identification, including on ethnic, ethnolinguistic and ethno-religious groups, indigenous peoples, internally displaced persons, and non-citizens, including refugees, asylum seekers and stateless persons, together with socioeconomic indicators, disaggregated by ethnicity, gender, age, region and languages spoken.

31. The Committee recommends that the State party strengthen its efforts to address the administrative shortcomings of the civil registry system and complex procedures and requirements. It also recommends that the State party adopt measures to ensure the accessibility, including by providing them free of charge, of birth registration and identity documents required for citizenship to prevent statelessness, particularly among internally displaced persons. It also recommends that the State party ratify the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

44. In accordance with article 9 (1) of the Convention and rule 65 of its rules of procedure, the Committee requests the State party to provide, within one year of the adoption of the present concluding observations, information on its implementation of the recommendations contained in paragraphs 19 (situation of minorities and indigenous peoples) and 31 (birth registration and identity documents) above.

46. The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Ensure that all children born abroad to migrant workers from Burkina Faso are registered at birth and are issued with identity documents by consular services, and that birth registration is made easy and free of charge everywhere and under all circumstances, in accordance with target 16.9 of the Sustainable Development Goals;

(b) Raise awareness of the importance of birth registration among migrant workers and members of their families, especially those in an irregular situation;

(c) Set up clear statelessness determination procedures and ease access to citizenship, given the critical role that nationality plays in the treatment of all persons, especially migrant workers.