Statelessness Working Paper Series No. 2017/01 children to be granted Myanmar citizenship if otherwise they would become stateless (in line with Myanmar’s obligations towards the Convention on the Rights of the Child).29 Objective criteria such as double jus soli (being born in the territory where one of the parents was also born in Myanmar) or birth in the territory prior to a particular date could be introduced to reduce the current stateless population, re-introducing a procedure for naturalisation such as the one existing in the 1948 Union Citizenship Law. Going back to the 1940’s, historical records describe how on 16 June 1947, the Honourable Aung San, Deputy Chairman of the Governor´s Executive Council, “amid cheers, moved in the Constituent Assembly that the future Constitution of Burma should be that of an independent sovereign republic.” The seven points-resolution approved stated that Burma would “guarantee and secure to all the peoples of the Union (…) equality of status”, that “the Constitution shall provide adequate safeguards for minorities” and that “this Historic Land of Burma shall attain its rightful and honoured place in the world, make its full and willing contribution to the advancement and welfare of mankind and affirm its devotion to the ideal of peace and friendly co-operation amongst nations founded on international justice and morality.”30 Seven decades later, perhaps, the law and policy makers of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s government may begin to consider whether or not it would make sense to redress the historical anomaly of General Ne Win’s era citizenship legislation by advancing towards more inclusive models, such as the one supported—at least in its principles—by her father, the national hero General Aung San. 29 Art. 7, United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Myanmar is a party since 1991. Josef Silverstein, The Political Legacy of General Aung San, Cornell South East Asia Programme, 1993, p. 72. (emphasis added) 30 6