Thousands of children remain stateless in Cyprus.
This was announced on Wednesday 5 March by the Commissioner for Children's Rights, Despo Michailidou-Livaniou.
Her office has conducted a study and published a report highlighting cases where children of Cypriot citizens are denied citizenship if the other parent is from a third country and their status in Cyprus is considered illegal. According to Michailidou-Livaniou, some 3.500 such applications are currently pending, with many children going years without official recognition.
There are various reasons why children end up in a legal vacuum. As an example, the Commissioner cited a child who had been living in Cyprus since the age of three months, had graduated from a local school, but was unable to enter university because his application for citizenship had been pending since 2008.
The situation is complicated by the fact that minors cannot apply for citizenship on their own. However, once they reach the age of 18, they can be recognised as illegal migrants and even prosecuted for immigration offences, despite the Cypriot origin of one of their parents.
In some cases, applications have been refused, particularly where one parent is a Turkish Cypriot and the other a Turkish national. The Constitution prohibits arbitrary refusals to review applications, so the state is obliged to accept them without discrimination. The excessive length of the procedure was also a concern. In 2024, only 96 simple cases were approved and at the current rate, some children's applications could take another 7 years.
Michailidou-Livaniou recommended that responsible officials in the Ministry of Interior be appointed immediately to speed up the process and that the 700 applications that already meet the criteria be processed within two months.
There is a special procedure for children of mixed marriages if one of the parents entered the Republic of Cyprus illegally or has lost the right of residence. In such cases, the final decision on granting citizenship rests with the Cabinet of Ministers. However, the reasons for the introduction of this discretionary practice have not been officially explained.
While acknowledging the political complexities associated with the divided status of Cyprus, the Commissioner stressed that discrimination on the basis of origin is illegal. She noted that the problem affected not only access to basic services such as education and health care, but also wider issues of social justice and long-term stability.
Citizenship confers not only rights but also responsibilities. The exclusion of whole groups from society creates risks of marginalisation and social tensions," concluded the Children's Commissioner.