UNHCR - Birth registration gaps leave South Africans in limbo
Birth registration gaps leave South Africans in limbo UNHCR is working with the South African government to help people at risk of statelessness obtain vital identity documents. Mpho Modise stands by the entrance of her small tin shack in Brits, South Africa. She lacks identity papers as her birth was never registered. © UNHCR/Hélène Caux Mpho Modise can only guess her age and it embarrasses her. “I would say I am about 33,” she says. She is unsure because her birth in South Africa was never registered. Yet establishing her age is the least of her problems. Without a birth certificat...