Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muižnieks says that there are 1,200 children without citizenship in Estonia but all children should be guaranteed citizenship automatically when they are born, even if their parents lack citizenship, LETA/Public Broadcasting reports.
Commissioner Muižnieks ended his three-day visit to Estonia on Wednesday, saying that it is in the best interests of the child to get citizenship at birth since it is a key to enjoying all human rights.
Muižnieks welcomed Estonia child protection law reform but called the government to clearly ban physical punishment of children in all regulations.
The Commissioner said he was worried about long-term unemployment and the danger of social ostracizing and called the government to focus more on how to ease the situation of handicapped people.
Muižnieks said there is a major need to improve awareness of national discrimination and about submitting complaints concerning discrimination among employers and employees.
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