ortunately, doesn’t mean that this procedure is effective or implemented efficiently. Despite the numerous recommendations and requests by other States and by non-governmental organizations, Spain, being a State Party to the 1954 Convention, has not yet ratified the 1961 Convention or the 1997 European Convention on Nationality.
What does this mean for Mohammed?
If we look into the details of the Spanish legal framework, specifically Article 13.4 of the Spanish Constitution, stateless persons have the right to benefit from the right to seek asylum in Spain. This right is regulated by the Organic Law 12/2009, which, seven years after its approval, has still no regulations. This means a different handling of the asylum applications of stateless persons and refugees, entailing incompatibilities between the different laws that only end up harming the applicants. When Amira arrived to Spain, she should have been able to request the recognition of the stateless status for her son, but the current legislation excludes this type of applications at the asylum offices at the borders' crossing points. This is clearly a violation of the rights of stateless people, who, like Amira and her son, arrive to Ceuta or Melilla. In addition, and although the Royal Decree states that the applications for the determination of the stateless status have to be resolved within three months, in practice the process can end up lasting more than two years, thereby increasing the risk of vulnerability and social exclusion of the applicant and his or her family. Unlike asylum seekers, who are allowed to work in Spain six months after submitting their application, even if their case haven’t been resolved yet, people who have applied for the determination of their stateless status will not have the right to work until their case is resolved, and that can be two years or more after their arrival.
To avoid the emergence of a new population of stateless children among the refugees who are trying to reach Europe or neighbouring countries of conflict zones, governments, together with non-governmental organizations and civil society must work towards making the necessary changes to national legislations so that the applications for statelessness status will be resolved in the shortest possible period of time. Also, authorities have to make an effort to gather data on existing cases and work with the most vulnerable communities to ensure that all children receive a birth certificate. In the field of international cooperation, governments may seek the assistance of experts and UN agencies to work together in solving this problem.