Israel To Stop Issuing Birth Certificates To Foreigners’ Babies

ISRAEL TO STOP ISSUING BIRTH CERTIFICATES TO FOREIGNERS’ BABIES

21:44 ~U 21.11.13

Israel is to stop issuing birth certificates to babies born to
foreigners – a move targeted at migrants but will also encompass
diplomats and other international workers, The Guardian reported.

The absence of official documentation is likely to cause major problems
when applying for passports and other identity papers.

The plan was disclosed in state papers filed to the high court on
Monday in response to a challenge to an existing policy of refusing
to include the father’s name in foreigners’ birth certificates. As
part of this policy, Israel also insists that only the mother’s family
name may be documented as the baby’s last name.

The Israeli government says it has no legal obligation to issue
official birth certificates to foreigners, and intends to stop doing
so to prevent foreigners using such documentation to claim the right to
stay in the country. Instead, foreigners will be given hospital-issued
birth notices, which are currently hand-written in Hebrew.

A legal challenge, due to be heard on Sunday, has been brought by the
Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and two other rights
groups on behalf of a family of asylum seekers from the Democratic
Republic of Congo. A child born to parents with permission to stay in
Israel and in possession of work permits was denied a birth certificate
including the father’s name. The ministry of interior also refused
the parents’ request to give the child her father’s last name.

Armenian News – Tert.am