North Macedonia’s legal framework enshrines some basic protections against arbitrary detention, and some safeguards to prevent statelessness. Important steps have been taken towards reducing in situ statelessness in recent years, but, despite being party to the 1954 Convention, there is still no statelessness determination procedure, and no statelessness protection status. Stateless migrants may apply for asylum or a temporary residence permit at the discretion of the Government, but both provide only very limited rights. There are some protections in law from arbitrary detention, including the right to free legal aid and remedies to challenge detention, but people detained are often not made aware of their rights in practice.
There is a provision in law for children born on the territory to stateless parents or parents of unknown nationality to automatically acquire Macedonian nationality, but this focuses on the status of the parents rather than the statelessness of the child, so does not prevent statelessness in all cases. There are safeguards in law to prevent statelessness among foundlings and children born to Macedonian nationals abroad. Positively, amendments adopted in June 2023 mandate the immediate registration of every child born on the territory of North Macedonia, irrespective of the residence status or identity of the parents, but there are still some issues with implementation. Barriers to birth registration disproportionately impact Romani communities, although the 2023 amendments should improve this situation.
Teodora Kjoseva Kostadinovska & Aleksandra Efremova, Macedonian Young Lawyers Association
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