Children born at sea : an assessment of the international protection offered to stateless minors within the Maltese legal framework

Abstract

This term paper examines issues relating to the international legal protection available to stateless minors within the Maltese legal framework, taking into consideration a salient local case on the matter. In the case Avukat Dottor Tonio Azzopard vs Direttur Tar-Registru Pubbliku, Hatra Chama, a Somalian citizen, was travelling from Libya to Europe when she gave birth to her daughter Muna, on an unregistered vessel which subsequently drowned, in international waters. Upon arrival on Maltese shores, Hatra registered for her own protection, however she was denied permission to register her daughter's birth, leaving her daughter unregistered, and without the minimun level of protection which is available to a refugee. Children born on high seas and refused birth registration upon reception in a State are left undocumented and inexistent in the eyes of the law. They are also very much at risk of becoming stateless - defined by the 1954 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons as 'a person who is not considered a national by any State under the operation of its law'. If any individual is not registered within the Public Registery of any State, and left without a birth certificate, or becomes stateless, that individual is severely hindered from unencumbered access to a number of rights. This term paper analyses the international, european and domestic laws applicable to children born on the high seas on unregistered vehicles and received in Malta. It examines the adequacy of these laws, taking into consideration practical realities faced by these individuals in Malta. It further considers the legal protection afforded to minors born in these same circumstances but orphaned shortly after their reception in Malta.