The Risk of Statelessness Increases for Children Born to Venezuelans on the Move

Forced migration involving the crossing of an international border carries certain risks for migrants. Among these is the risk of statelessness. Several reasons can cause statelessness.

These factors include:

" A prolonged absence from ones country of nationality that can render citizenship ineffective

" The loss of documents or the inability of a person in forced migration to access legal documentation proving nationality

" In the case of children, parents inability to access birth registration services, birth in transit, conflict in nationality laws, and family separation while crossing a border can result in statelessness

This article is also available in English for reading: Increased Risk of Statelessness for Children Born to Venezuelans in Movement

Many Venezuelan migrants across the region face these challenges, which increase their risk of ending up stateless.

To prevent statelessness among Venezuelan migrants in Latin America and the Caribbean, authorities in host countries not only have to be aware of the risk. It is argued that they must adopt proactive policies and possibly legislative steps to ensure that statelessness does not become the reality of many Venezuelan migrants currently on the move in the region.

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago has signed the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons but has not incorporated it into national legislation nor developed a status-determination process that could enable the proper identification and protection of stateless persons residing within its jurisdiction. Thus, stateless persons in Trinidad and Tobago cannot benefit from protection according to international standards. In addition, Trinidad and Tobago has not signed the convention on the reduction of statelessness, which regulates the acquisition and deprivation of citizenship with a view to preventing the growth of statelessness and eventually eradicating it within a jurisdiction.

It has recently happened that there may be an increased risk of statelessness among migrants in Trinidad and Tobago for children born to migrant parents who have an irregular migration status at the time their child is born, regardless of the fact that the Constitution guarantees citizenship to all people born in Trinidad and Tobago with limited exceptions. The parents of these children report new and greater barriers to registering the birth of their child. This trend is particularly observed when both parents have irregular migration status.

Birth registration is the first step in providing a child with legal identity and all countries that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, including Trinidad and Tobago, have committed to ensuring that the immediate right to birth registration is respected and upheld. Otherwise, the absence of legal identity creates a series of barriers that impede the ability to benefit from a range of social, economic, political, and cultural rights, severely hindering individuals development in society.

New challenges in Trinidad and Tobago

Today in Trinidad and Tobago, some Venezuelan migrants report encountering significant difficulties when registering the births of their children because of their irregular status. People who were registered as part of the government-led registration process also encounter difficulties when trying to register the births of their children because of the documentary requirements needed to complete the process.

Venezuelan migrants are asked for valid passports or certified copies of their passports as a valid form of identification. This practice is problematic because many Venezuelans do not possess a valid passport and are unable to renew the document because the costs are extremely high or because it is simply not possible given the well-known challenges of the Venezuelan government in renewing those documents.

A Venezuelan national ID card can also be accepted as a legal document to register the childs birth. However, the document has to be translated and, in some cases, a verification letter issued by the Venezuelan Consulate in Trinidad and Tobago is required. The translation expenses and the cost of the letter are exorbitant for many Venezuelan migrant families in Trinidad and Tobago and therefore they stop short of completing the birth-registration process in a timely manner.

In Trinidad and Tobago, holders of the government registration card, that is, people who participated in the registration process carried out during two weeks in June 2019, report that the card is not considered a form of national identification and cannot be used to register a childs birth.

The UNHCR card, an identification document issued to persons who have registered with UNHCR and are in the process of status determination by the UN agency, is likewise not considered a valid ID and cannot by itself be used to register a childs birth. As a result, there are specific challenges for those in refugee status-determination processes, especially if they do not have other valid forms of identification from their country of origin, as they may fear seeking services from the Venezuelan Consulate in Trinidad because they fear it could jeopardize their asylum claim.

The population of concern without valid identification, that is, without a valid passport or national ID from their country of origin, may be accompanied by an informant who lives in the house or building where the birth took place, or by a witness who was present for the birth, in order to register the birth and request a birth certificate. The names of the parents can be endorsed in the document itself if the parents do not have valid national ID, with a UNHCR card or another document used to confirm the parents photo ID and name for the endorsement of the birth certificate. Neither the UNHCR card nor the government registration card is accepted as valid ID in the absence of a passport or national ID.

What must be done?

It is not possible to affirm that officials in Trinidad and Tobago are intentionally refraining from providing services to persons entitled to jus soli. Nevertheless, it must be recognized that birth-registration procedures and protocols need to be adjusted to ensure that children born to migrants are not denied the legal identity to which they are constitutionally entitled. Current mechanisms are not accessible to the Venezuelan migrant population because they do not know Trinidad and Tobago legislation well and may face language barriers. Thus, it is a cumbersome process to navigate without help.

Added to this are the costs associated with some of the procedures, which are exorbitant for many people, and the requirement for some persons to obtain documents at the Venezuelan consulate while they are in the process of obtaining refugee status, which amounts to a violation of their rights and could eventually put their claim at risk. For this reason, these are not feasible options for many families. As in other places in the region, special measures must be considered so that children born to Venezuelans on the move are not overlooked in birth registration and the rights that derive from it.

Note: Kamilah Morain currently serves as Deputy Director of the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) in the Caribbean. This article is also available in English.