An estimated 45,000 children who were born under Islamic State rule in Iraq may face total exclusion from Iraqi society as they lack civil documentation, the Norwegian Refugee Council warned on Tuesday.
In its report, the international charity said those children, who are in camps for displaced people were issued birth certificates by the extremist group that is deemed invalid by the Iraqi government.
It added that the children are barred from education, denied access to health care and deprived of most basic rights, including state recognised marriages, owning property or even being formally employed.
“We face a possible human time-bomb. Allowing these children to have an education, health care, simply the right to exist, is key to ensuring a sustainable future for them and for the country,’’ Jan Egeland, the council’s secretary general, said.
“A society cannot be at peace if it allows a generation of stateless children in its midst,’’ he added.
“Children are not responsible for crimes committed by their relatives, yet many are denied their basic rights as Iraqi citizens,’’ he said.
The number of undocumented children will increase significantly in the coming weeks with the expected return of over 30,000 Iraqis from Syria, 90 per cent of whom are wives and children with suspected ties to Islamic State militants.
Egeland urged the Iraqi government to “ensure that undocumented children have the right to exist like any other Iraqi citizen.” (dpa/NAN)
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