Albania Violated Roma Children’s Rights By Denying Birth Registration, UN Human Rights Committee Finds

GENEVA (20 February 2025) – Albania violated the rights of three Roma children by failing to register their births, leaving them without legal recognition, and at risk of statelessness, the UN Human Rights Committee has found.

The Committee today published its Decision on a case regarding three children who live in Albania without birth registration or any legal identity. When their case was first brought before the Committee, the two oldest children were 15, and the youngest was four.

“Without birth registration, a child is non-existent in official records, stripped of legal identity, deprived of access to basic rights such as education and healthcare, and facing exploitation and statelessness,” said Committee member Teraya Koji.

The three Roma children were born in Greece to Albanian parents living in the country without legal residency. Because of their parents’ undocumented status in Greece, the children’s births could not be properly registered there. Upon returning to Albania, the parents faced additional barriers to registering their children, as they were unable to provide the Greek birth certificates required under Albanian law. This left the children in a state of legal limbo, preventing them from attending school, receiving medical care, or accessing social services.

Domestic Albanian legislation ensures that, as was the case for these three Roma children, any individual born to one or two parents of Albanian nationality automatically acquires Albanian nationality. However, in this case, as in general practice in Albania, the acquisition of citizenship under domestic legislation is only effective once a child’s birth is registered.

As it was difficult, economically, practically and legally, to challenge the authorities under existing Albanian legislation, the case of these three children was brought to the Committee, claiming Albania had violated their rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Indeed, according to the Covenant, every child shall be registered immediately after birth and have a name. By failing to assist the three children of this case in registering their births and acquiring Albanian nationality Albania has violated their rights under article 24 (2-3).

While Albania’s legislation on the registration of births is apparently neutral, the Committee noted that in practice it had a disproportionate impact on people of Roma origin, due to their mobility, their migration status in other States and their economic vulnerability, exposing relatively more Roma children to statelessness. The Committee thus found that Albania violated Articles 24 (1) and Article 26, which require equal and effective protection for all children regardless of origin, gender, language, religion, or other status.

“States must prioritise adequate policies for birth registration, especially for children from marginalised communities,” Teraya stated. “No child should grow up without a legal identity, invisible in society, and deprived of legal protection and opportunity,” he added.

Considering the impact of statelessness on children and building on its previous decisions on the matter, the Committee concluded for the first time that the lack of birth registration denied the children recognition before the law, as protected under Article 16 of the ICCPR.

“With this decision, the Committee clearly spells out the significance for a child to be recognised before the law and to be granted a nationality, said Teraya. “In doing so, the Committee also strengthens its previous decisions and draws on the position of other United Nations and regional bodies on the matter,” he said.

The Committee called on Albania to immediately remedy these violations by registering the children’s births, recognising their nationality, and providing access to essential services. It further asked the State party to revise its legislation to ensure equitable access to birth registration for all children, regardless of their parents’ legal status or ethnicity.

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