C. 74 SECTION I.B.2 EVERY CHILD’S RIGHT TO A NATIONALITY The arguments and sub-arguments made thus far apply to all individuals. Children, however, deserve special attention and accordingly enjoy additional rights and safeguards. The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (‘ACERWC’) rightly observed the following in this regard: Statelessness is particularly devastating to children in the realisation of their socio-economic rights such as access to health care, and access to education. In sum, being stateless as a child is generally antithesis to the best interests of children.113 The current Indian citizenship framework does not provide for nationality to children born within the territory of India who would otherwise be stateless. Prior to the 1986 amendment of the Citizenship Act, every child born within Indian territory was conferred Indian citizenship at the time of birth (with two rarely applicable conditions that exist even today under section 3(2) of the Act). The 1986 amendment imposed an additional requirement that either of the child’s parents must be Indian citizens in order to be eligible for Indian citizenship by birth (‘jus soli’). To further restrict the jus soli principle, the 2003 amendment added yet another condition that neither parent must be an ‘illegal migrant’. Accordingly, the present law is not only in contravention of several international legal instruments signed and ratified by India, but also in contravention of customary international law in this regard. 113  Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) and Open Society Justice Initiative (on behalf of Children of Nubian Descent in Kenya) v Government of Kenya Comm no 002/Com/002/2009 (ACERWC, 22 March 2011). SECURING CITIZENSHIP