Within the project ”Legal Assistance to Persons at Risk of Statelessness in Serbia”, funded by UNHCR, Praxis prepared the report “Overview of obstacles to exercising the right to registration in birth registry books, acquisition of citizenship and registration of permanent residence in 2021”. The report presents an overview of the achievements and remaining challenges in the field of exercising the right to registration in the birth registry books, acquisition of citizenship and registration of permanent residence.
The problem of legally invisible persons in Serbia is still not close to a solution, which is supported by the data that, in 2021, a total of 162 persons who are not registered in birth registry books addressed Praxis for assistance.
The systemic obstacle jeopardizing the exercise of the right to timely birth registration has not been removed last year either. For this reason, Serbia is still facing a situation in which new-born children are not registered in the birth registry book immediately after birth and are, hence, deprived of or have hindered access to numerous rights, including the rights to health care and social protection. The report indicates that there are still problems in the court procedures for determining the time and place of birth, in procedures for determination of personal name, registration of children born abroad in the birth registry book, as well as during subsequent birth registration and Re-registration procedures. At the same time, they are an obstacle to the acquisition of citizenship, along with other immediate problems listed in this report that occurred in relation to the exercise of the right to citizenship.
The report also points to obstacles related to registration of permanent residence, one of the most common being avoiding jurisdiction. In addition, option of registration of permanent residence at the address of a spouse or parents, the competent bodies do not take into consideration, while in some municipalities, social welfare centres stopped giving consent to registration of permanent residence at their address.
The report “Overview of obstacles to exercising the right to registration in birth registry books, acquisition of citizenship and registration of permanent residence in 2021” may be found HERE.
