Rights Georgia and the European Network on Statelessness made a joint submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child for the 97th Pre-Sessional Working Group, focusing on Georgia’s compliance with the right of every child to acquire a nationality.
The submission focuses on the right to acquire a nationality of children born stateless in Georgia and the right to birth registration.
Based on the content of this submission, we made the following recommendations and asked the Committee to urge the Georgian government to:
- Enact legislation to ensure that all children born in Georgia who would otherwise be stateless acquire a nationality as soon as possible after birth, regardless of the status or identity of their parents.
- Take measures to ensure that the non-recognition of same-sex marriage or partnership by Georgian legislation does not prevent universal birth registration, including of children born to same-sex parents, nor the determination or acquisition of the child's nationality as soon as possible after birth.
- Ensure that policies and practices remove all practical barriers to birth registration, taking into account UNHCR guidance, with a particular focus on minoritised groups including Roma communities and children of same-sex parents, so that all children are registered immediately regardless of their parents’ documentation or residence status, gender or sexual identity.
- Ensure that all children on the territory, including members of Roma communities, have access to fundamental rights in law and in practice without any discrimination, including through the adoption of a community-based approach to design policies and solutions to address the discrimination and marginalisation of Roma communities.
