Everything you need to know about statelessness

Birth registration of Roma children is becoming more difficult: a case study from Serbia

This piece draws on Praxis’ work providing free legal aid to people at risk of statelessness in Serbia. It details the case of Sara, a Roma child…

Vicious circles of Roma statelessness in Serbia – A road map

The Roma community in Serbia continues to endure challenges when it comes to birth registration and citizenship acquisition. The risk of…

#RomaBelong – Tackling Roma statelessness in the Western Balkans and Ukraine

“I feel bad because I am from here but they are not giving me citizenship. I feel I don’t belong here. God forbid if I die, they will not bury me…

Roma in Serbia still denied birth certificates – ENS members take legal action to challenge register offices’ unlimited power

The purist in me imagines bureaucrats running around maternity wards, struggling to catch all the details (“Name? Mother’s name? Sorry, can you…

The case of Zoja - I am no longer legally invisible, but I remain invisible in the eyes of the state where I was born and where I have lived for 34 years

There is no doubt that the procedure for determining the time and place of birth established by the Law on Amendments to the Law on Non-Contentious…

Legally Invisible in Serbia

Just outside the front door of their shack in an informal Roma settlement in central Belgrade, Serbia, 15-year-old Deni and his six brothers and…

CESCR’s recommendation – Serbia to ensure effective access to personal documents for Roma and displaced persons, and in the meantime to facilitate their access to economic, social and cultural rights

In May 2014, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights considered the Second Periodic Report of Serbia on the measures applied and…

The case of Valjbona and her children - lack of birth registration leaves many Roma children in a situation of undetermined nationality for an extended period of time

“Once I acquire nationality, my children will finally be able to go to the doctor’s when necessary and I will not have to pay for medicines. Nearby…

Abandoned by parents, neglected by the State

„...I just want to get an ID card, like other citizens, and then register the birth of my children. My greatest wish is that my children go to…

New Birth Registration Procedure – Impact on the Prevention of Statelessness in Serbia

In August 2012, a new court procedure for determination of date and place of birth was established in Serbia. It is intended for the persons who…

Prevention of statelessness at birth – adequate nationality law but inconsistent implementation

In December 2011, Serbia acceded to the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. The Serbian Law on Citizenship had already been in accordance…

No Residence, No Rights

In many countries there is a circle of rights which are reserved only for their own nationals and that is one of the main facts that gives…