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Ms. Ivanka Kostic, Executive Director, Praxis - United Nations Rule ...

Ms. Ivanka Kostic, Executive Director, Praxis - United Nations Rule ...

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A significant number of Roma live in informal settlements, in houses built of material foundin the garbage depots, without water, electricity, in poverty, without identity. Lack ofdocuments severely affects the socio-economic position of this population, which is alreadyamong the most vulnerable in Serbia. If the issue of their identity and nationality is notresolved, it is certain that they will remain in the vicious circle of poverty, exclusion anddeprivation.Without birth registration their children can not finish primary school, obtain schooldiplomas and they do not have any possibility to continue education. They do not haveaccess to employment and social welfare; they are not even entitled to a free meal providedby social welfare centres in soup kitchens. They cannot register their children’s birth,recognize paternity over a child, and get marriage. Furthermore, they cannot registerpermanent or temporary residence, acquire property or inherit. Women and children areexposed to various forms of abuse, exploitation and human trafficking. Some courts evendeny them court protection because “they do not have a name”, despite the lawsuit beinginitiated precisely with the aim to give plaintiff identity, name and nationality.They are deprived of freedom of movement. They cannot leave the country nor can theymove freely in the country in which they live, since they do not possess an ID card. Someexperience long-lasting interrogations when stopped by the police in the street, because theydon’t have an ID card.What is necessary to be done by the State, without delay?The State should:- establish the number of persons at risk of statelessness, recognize the existence of theproblem and start tackling it- regulate the procedure of subsequent registration of birth which would take intoconsideration the specific needs and characteristics of the population group which is mostlyexposed to risk of “invisibility” before the law and risk of statelessness; the procedure shouldbe fast and simple, by adopting a new law or amending the existing laws- Raise awareness about the importance of registration of the fact of birth among the Romapopulation and inform them about the procedures (free legal assistance and reach out to thepersons of concern in the field- register all children born in Serbia immediately after birth, irrespective of the child's statusor status of his or her parents, so that they can have a name and nationality- prescribe an obligation of health institutions, schools and other institutions to record dataabout the children without documents and to inform the competent bodies for initiatingprocedures of subsequent registration- sensitize public administration to the problems of vulnerable population and penalize pooradministration- perform reconstruction of unavailable, lost or destroyed registry books, without delay andex officio (those who were once registered in those registry books should only be obliged tocooperate and provide data available to them)- issue temporary identification documents to persons whose status has not been resolvedyet- solve the problem of informal settlements which results in the impossibility to registerresidence, obtain ID cards and results in a series of deprivation of rights, including5

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