Thousands of children remain stateless in Cyprus, the commissioner for children’s rights said on Wednesday.

The commissioner’s office publicised its findings and recommendations, including over the denial of citizenship for children of Cypriot parents when the second parent is a third country national whose status is illegal in the Republic.

About 3,500 such applications are pending while some of these children remain de facto stateless for years, commissioner Despo Michaelidou said.

The reasons children fall between the system’s cracks are varied. The commissioner brought up examples, such as that of a child who had lived in Cyprus since the age of three months and who had completed all levels of state schooling, who now found herself in a precarious position and unable to continue to higher education, as her application had been pending since 2008.

Cases such as these are caught in a loop, as minors are not eligible to apply for citizenship themselves. However, once they turn of age they may be prosecuted for illegal stay, despite having one Cypriot parent.

Sixty-two such cases had been brought to her office, Michaelidou said.

Other cases concern refusal to review an application, especially if one parent is Turkish Cypriot and the other Turkish. The state constitution forbids the arbitrary rejection of the right to consideration, the commissioner pointed out, and the state is bound by law to accept all applications for processing without discrimination.

Slow processing times is another gap and only 96 straight-forward cases had been approved in 2024. If only 100 cases are to be processed yearly then for some children the process is likely to last another seven years, Michaelidou pointed out.

She recommended higher officials at the interior ministry be immediately assigned to process pending applications so that 700 applicants who are known to meet the currently set criteria, can be processed within two months.

Other frozen cases involve children who entered as refugees, where their parent’s only recourse was to enter illegally and those who grow up with a single Cypriot parent due to the disappearance of the second parent, who may have acknowledged the child. Children of a parent who had a previous illegal entry marked on their record, despite this having been rectified since, are also trapped.

The commissioner said her office had been receiving complaints and following matters for about a decade.

Investigation and correspondence with the interior ministry had highlighted the gaps in legislation and the state had a duty to approach regulation in a child-centred way and ensure that no child remained without an identity, de jure or de facto, Michaelidou said.

The granting of citizenship based on a child’s parentage of the same nationality is the norm and recognised by Article 109 of the law governing matters on population.

In Cyprus exceptional handling is in place for children of mixed marriages where one parent entered the Republic illegally or whose right to stay is suspended. In these cases, the granting of citizenship falls to the cabinet which decides on the basis of specific additional criteria whether or not to grant nationality by discretion.

The reasoning behind the introduction of this exception had not been explained the commissioner said and while acknowledging political factors ensuing from Cyprus’ divided status, she said arbitrary discrimination was not legal.

“When the law or policies implemented may be used arbitrarily or in a manner that disproportionately impacts the rights of children,” this had to be addressed she said.

Beyond bureaucratic difficulties, including impeded access to basic services, such as healthcare, the matter deserved attention as one of “social justice and long-term political stability” as these individuals and groups end up marginalized, the commissioner said, adding that the granting of citizenship brings with it responsibilities as well as privileges.