Mauritania Issues Birth Certificates for Malian Refugee Children
Published: 25/Feb/2018
Source: VOA
The U.N. refugee agency reports the Mauritanian Government is issuing birth certificates to thousands of Malian refugee children who were born in Mbera camp, conferring important legal protections upon them.
Refugee children who lack a birth certificate more often than not are considered as stateless. They have no identity. Legally, they do not exist and are stripped of basic rights.
The U.N. refugee agency welcomes the decision by the Mauritanian authorities to issue birth certificates for some 7,600 Malian children born in Mbera, a sprawling refugee camp along the Malian border in southeastern Mauritania.