STATELESSNESS AND CITIZENSHIP IN THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY 6. International law on nationality and statelessness International standards The right to a nationality is one of the rights first established by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Article 15 provides that: (1) Everyone has a right to a nationality. (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality. The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, which entered into force in 1975, makes it a duty of states to prevent statelessness in nationality laws and practices. Article 1 mandates that: A Contracting State shall grant its nationality to a person born in its territory who would otherwise be stateless. It also reaffirmed one of the longest-standing norms relating to the prevention of statelessness for those who cannot acquire their parents’ nationality: the right to a nationality in the state where they were found for children of unknown parents.305 Many human rights treaties mention nationality in relation to their own subject matter, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which both guarantee the right of every child to acquire a nationality.306 This right is reaffirmed by the Migrant Workers Convention for the children of migrants.307 The treaties prohibiting discrimination also encompass the right to nationality. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) requires that women be granted equal rights with men in respect of nationality.308 The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities elaborates more detailed rules on the rights of persons with disabilities to a nationality, on an equal basis with others.309 The International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) requires that enjoyment of the right to nationality be guaranteed to everyone “without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic 305 First codified by The Hague Convention on Certain Questions Relating to the Conflict of Nationality Laws, 1930 306 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 24(3); Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 7(1): “The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents.” Article 8 requires states to “respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations as recognized by law without unlawful interference”, and to provide appropriate assistance and protection, to re-establishing identity where it has been deprived. See Jaap E. Doek, “The CRC and the right to acquire and to preserve a nationality”, Refugee Survey Quarterly, Vol. 25, No. 3, 2006. 307 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, Article 29: “Each child of a migrant worker shall have the right to a name, to registration of birth and to a nationality.” 308 CEDAW Article 9: “(1) States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men to acquire, change or retain their nationality. They shall ensure in particular that neither marriage to an alien nor change of nationality by the husband during marriage shall automatically change the nationality of the wife, render her stateless or force upon her the nationality of the husband. (2) States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men with respect to the nationality of their children.” Article 16(1)(d) of CEDAW specifies that men and women should have “[t]he same rights and responsibilities as parents, irrespective of their marital status, in matters relating to their children”. 309 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Article 18: “(1) States Parties shall recognize the rights of persons with disabilities to liberty of movement, to freedom to choose their residence and to a nationality, on an equal basis with others, including by ensuring that persons with disabilities: (a) Have the right to acquire and change a nationality and are not deprived of their nationality arbitrarily or on the basis of disability; (b) Are not deprived, on the basis of disability, of their ability to obtain, possess and utilize documentation of their nationality or other documentation of identification, or to utilize relevant processes such as immigration proceedings, that may be needed to facilitate exercise of the right to liberty of movement; (c) Are free to leave any country, including their own; (d) Are not deprived, arbitrarily or on the basis of disability, of the right to enter their own country. (2) Children with disabilities shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by their parents.” 72 UNHCR / September 2018