76 SECTION I.C.1 statelessness in children.115 The obligation to grant nationality to all children born within a state’s territory who would otherwise be stateless is included in the legislation of over 100 States.116 Hence, under customary international law, all states have the duty to automatically grant citizenship to stateless children born in their territory and to prevent and reduce statelessness among children. This obligation comes with two exceptions. The first exception is when the state has a ‘non-burdensome, nondiscretionary’ nationality application process.117 It is appropriate here to consider Sri Lanka’s approach to reduce statelessness among Hill Tamils within the territory [see box].118 The Sri Lankan government found that the only non-cumbersome procedure to grant nationality to most stateless Hill Tamils within its territory was an automatic grant of citizenship.119 Hence, the first exception that calls for a non-burdensome and non-discretionary nationality application process does not absolve the state of its duty under international law. The second exception is a case where the state of birth can ‘definitively secure de jure nationality for the child from another state’.120 The second exception is highly discouraged as this might render a child stateless for the interim period until their nationality is secured. 115 International legal instruments that mandate the aforementioned principles are the 1954 Convention, 1961 Convention (Articles 1, 2 and 4), and the CRMW (Article 29). Regional treaties that specifically mandate this are ACRWC (Article 6) and ACHR (Article 20). 116 Michelle Foster and Hélène Lambert, International Refugee Law and the Protection of Stateless Persons (OUP 2019) ch 3, 12. 117 William Thomas Worster, ‘The Obligation to Grant Nationality to Stateless Children under Customary International Law’ (2019) 27(3) Michigan State International Law Review <https://digitalcommons. law.msu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1257&context=ilr> accessed 11 March 2020. 118 UNHCR, ‘Good Practices Paper: Action I – Resolving Existing Major Situations of Statelessness’ (2015) <https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/54e75a244.pdf> accessed 3 April 2020. 119 Grant of Citizenship to Persons of Indian Origin, 2003 (Sri Lanka). 120 William Thomas Worster, ‘The Obligation to Grant Nationality to Stateless Children under Customary International Law’ (n 117). SECURING CITIZENSHIP