CYIL vol. 15 (2024)

CYIL 15 ȍ2024Ȏ THE ISSUE OF COMPARISON OF STATELESS PERSON WITH STATELESS SHIP … states or the change of borders of states a considerable part of the population might become stateless. It is not unusual that there are several generations of people who are deprived of their right to nationality despite having deep-rooted and longstanding ties to their communities and countries. 29 There is also emphasis on statistical data, according to which over a third of stateless persons around the world are children. If this problem is not resolved through naturalisation (admittance of a foreigner to the citizenship of the country) or by changing the domestic laws in the way that if the child is not eligible to acquire the citizenship by birth based on the principle ius sanguinis, the child would be granted the nationality of the country based on the principle ius soli, future generations of these children might also be stateless, thus the denial of the right of the child to the nationality might be perpetuated. 30 The UNHCR campaign identifies various causes of statelessness and suggests the legal measures states can adopt. The key factor is nevertheless the political will of the states. T he UNHCR agency has no ability to enforce the implementation of this plan. Thus, there is, in the author’s opinion, a possibility, that the problem of statelessness might not end on a global scale in 2024, as this campaign aims. 31 Perhaps due to this anticipation, the UNHCR launched another campaign in this regard with the implementation date at the end of 2026. 32 Either way, there is a possibility of at least a reduction of some causes of statelessness , as long as there is sufficient political will of the states to change their domestic legislation which currently causes statelessness. 3. Legal issues affecting the birth registration stemming into statelessness This chapter is aimed at explanation the legal issues having an impact on the complications and in some cases impossibility of birth registration. Besides the legal issues, which often result in statelessness, there are relevant cultural barriers or insufficient knowledge of the rights of the mothers. Women might suppose, due to the lack of knowledge or the assumption based on a long-standing custom, they are not entitled to register their child, or they are not aware of the importance of the birth registration. Birth registrations might not be carried out due to financial reasons and barriers to access birth registration facilities. These non-legal aspects were not included in this research. Also excluded was one minor legal situation of children born to a same-sex couples. In some situations, these children might be stateless. This problematic is a rather complex issue, which would require a deep analysis. Therefore, in the opinion of the author, it is a matter of a separate research topic. 33 29 UNHCR. A Special Report: Ending Statelessness within 10 years. [online] pp.2-3 [accessed on 19 May 2024] Available at: https://tinyurl.com/5cd4vhh9. 30 Ibidem, p. 4. 31 JAIN, N. Manufacturing Statelessness. In: American Journal of International Law. 2022, vol. 116 (2), pp. 237–288. 32 UNHCR. Redoubling our efforts on ending statelessness: UNHCR’s strategic plan 202–2026. [online] [accessed on 19 May 2024]. Available at: https://tinyurl.com/ypz37npm. 33 It can be at least briefly noted that some children might be in a legal gap in case they are raised in same-sex families eventually by using the method of assisted reproduction technologies. In some instances, the children born to same sex-families are not permitted to have both of their parents registered in birth certificate, which can compromise the child’s ability to acquire nationality through each parent separately. This might result in the situation of statelessness of the child in case the woman who gave birth was stateless and her female non-stateless partner cannot be registered as parent so, the child cannot acquire the nationality based on their mother’s partner. GERBER, P., LINDER, P. Birth Certificates for Children with Same-sex Parents: A Reflection of Biology or Something More? In: New York University Journal of Legislation & Public Policy. 2015, Vol. 18(2), pp. 226–276;

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