Skopje, 23 July 2023 (MIA) – The record number in the separate birth registry book for Zulfija Amza and seven hundred other people who do not own personal documents will soon become a registry number. With the adopted amendments to the Law on Civil Registry, all unregistered persons in the country who fought with the system to prove their legal identity, obtain personal documents, and thus gain access to basic rights, should become full-fledged citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia.

 

To 55-year-old Zulfija Amza, an unemployed woman who has never been able to see a doctor, this is a dream come true. 

 

 

"I have no health record to go and get treatment, to check my health. I will be very grateful if you can get me a birth certificate, an identity card, so that I can get a health card, get treatment, get social security," she says. 

 

Amza's decision for social assistance falls short at the first bank counter, where she's asked to provide a registry number in order to open a bank account. 

 

"I have the decision, but I can't get the money. I go to the bank, they ask me to either provide a passport or an ID card," she says. 

 

She's begging on the street to feed herself. Her deceased sister, also an unregistered person, has two children who do not own personal documents and don't go to school.

 

"They don't go to school, they are not literate. They spend all day at home, unless they go to the bins to collect plastics. And they eat out of the bins, they have nowhere to go, they don't receive social benefits, they are miserable like me," Amza says. 

 

The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy told MIA that the challenge of this category of persons was noted in 2011, after which the Government has set up an interdepartmental working group composed of representatives of ministries, international organizations and non-governmental organizations, whose task was to determine the approximate number of people who do not own personal documents and to propose measures to overcome this issue.

 

In 2018, the issue was raised again as essential for the realization of the rights of citizens not registered in the Birth Registry. For this purpose, the Labor Ministry (as coordinator of the activities to resolve the issue of this category of persons), in order to obtain an approximate number of all persons on the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia who are not registered in the Birth Registry (i.e. do not own a birth certificate), together with the Registry Office, announced in April 2018 a public call to all unregistered persons to visit the regional  Registry Office and fill out a questionnaire on the reasons for their non-registration.

 

As a result 700 people who do not own personal documents were identified, says the Labor Ministry. 

 

In 2020, a special law was drafted only for this category of persons and this law enabled unregistered persons to obtain a record number in a separate birth registry book, for the purpose of realizing the right to education, health care, social protection and employment with mandatory social insurance, until additional registration in the regular birth registry and obtaining a birth certificate. The law was adopted by the Government and the Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia on February 10, 2020, when its application began.

 

According to Sonja Mirakovska, New Social Democratic Party MP and chair of the Committee on Political System and Inter-Community Relations, the Law on Unregistered Persons has not produced the expected results.

 

 

"That's why the Committee on Political System held a supervisory debate where it was concluded that the solution must be permanent, according to the Law on Civil Registry. The MPs passed amendments, to the Law on Civil Registry, for transfer of all persons who are registered in the separate birth registry book to the regular one and all those who registered in the 2018 call and filled out questionnaires, we have a total of about 700 people, so that we can register them," said Mirakovska. 

 

Mirakovska notes that the procedures are different for those citizens who are already registered in the separate book.

 

The problem, according to her, is with the identity card and residence, laws that are yet to be resolved.

 

"Currently, the law on residence and the law on identity cards are to enter parliamentary procedure. With these two laws, we will practically enable all citizens in the Republic of North Macedonia to get an ID card," she says.

 

SDSM MP Ljatife Shikovska pointed out that the issue regarding unregistered children arised after the breakup of Yugoslavia, when the civil status needed to be resolved, adding that at the time, the Roma were most affected. 

 

 

"From a financial point of view and lack of information, they didn't know how to solve their problem regarding personal documentation in a faster way. However, over time, 30 years have passed, although civil society organizations worked in this area in terms of support for the registration of unregistered persons, today we are still talking about a number of persons who still remained unregistered, and their civil status has not yet been resolved, let us finally resolve it for them," she says.

 

After the civil status is resolved, according to Shikovska, all those who own a birth certificate, because most of them are children, will have the right to education, health care and social protection, and all those benefits that every single citizen enjoys.

 

"Of course, unfortunately, we also have adults who still do not have their first birth certificate, which they will have to get, and for them, of course, they will have to get a first identity card. In a way, this means life for those citizens. This means that the system will recognize them and they will enjoy all the rights and obligations that every single citizen enjoys in our country," she says.

 

After the case of Memet Kamber, a 19-year-old undocumented boy who died due to undiagnosed diabetes, the Parliament more than a month ago adopted amendments to the Law on Civil Registry that allow all known cases of statelessness be resolved, as well as every child born in the country to receive a birth certificate, regardless of whether their parents are unregistered persons or stateless.

 

For this purpose, regional workshops organized by the OSCE Mission in Skopje and the UNHCR are ongoing across the country, in order to train administrative staff on the practical application of the newly adopted amendments to the Law on Civil Registry regarding late registration of unregistered persons in North Macedonia.

 

According to Aleksandra Cvetanovska, president of the Macedonian Young Lawyers Association (MYLA), which has been providing free legal assistance for 13 years on the regulation of residence and registration in the birth registry, the amendments will enable these persons to no longer be invisible persons and enjoy all human rights.

 

 

"This means that these people will no longer be marginalized and discriminated against, it means that we will end statelessness, something that is very important to all of us. The law will prevent such cases happening in the future, i.e. we will not have people who are not registered and do not own a birth certificate. Also, the new amendments bring a big change, i.e. after a child is born, within 45 days each newborn will be able to receive a birth certificate regardless of the status of his parents," she says. 

 

Cvetanovska notes that the changes provide for an easier procedure for the registration of persons who already have documents from the separate registry book.

 

She adds the preparation of instructions for keeping registry books in accordance with the new law, as well as trainings and resolving cases, is underway. 

 

The OSCE Mission in Skopje and the UNHCR welcome the legal amendments 

 

According to Kilian Wahl, Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje, this is an ambitious but achievable goal. 

 

 

"It is hoped that indeed North Macedonia will end statelessness by the end of 2023. We are all stepping up our efforts in order to achieve this and once achieved, it is an ambitious goal but I think it’s a doable objective, and once achieved, North Macedonia will be the first country in Europe, but also one of the first countries globally, that have ended statelessness," he says.

 

According to Wahl, North Macedonia shows how much can be achieved if there is national unity, and this national unity basically makes the country a leader, not only in the region, but als globally.

 

Cristina Bunea, Officer in Charge of the UNHCR Representation in North Macedonia, says this brings North Macedonia very close to a historical moment because ending statelessness is very important for the people.

 

 

“A very important feature of the latest legislative changes in the Parliament is the fact that statelessness will have a systemic solution and we have to make sure not only that we resolve the current cases, but there will be no futire cases occuring. This is thanks to the provisions of the law, the latest modifications of the law, but it is also important to mention that it will take the work of everyone else to make sure that no child will remain unregistered,” she says. 

 

Angela Rajchevska

Translated by Nevenka Nikolikj

Video and editing: Srgjan Krstikj