of civil registration systems in conflict affected areas, and difficulties in
registering new births and marriages. In addition, globalization has brought
vastly increased levels of migration, inter-marriage and children being born
outside the countries of their parents’ nationalities. These emerging realities
introduce new complexities, gaps and risks that were not fully envisioned or
addressed in the original citizenship legislation of most States in the world.
It is a priority of the Arab League that nationality legislation be modified in
order to minimize the effects of armed conflicts on conflict-affected families,
so that all children are able to enjoy their right to belong. Moreover, the
relatively recent phenomenon of globalization has led to increased mobility
and new forms of migration. As a result, large numbers of people live outside
of their country of nationality or possess multiple citizenships and live in
more than one country. Marriage between people of different nationalities
has become a frequent occurrence. Therefore, children whose parents may
be of different nationalities, or where they are born outside of the country
of nationality of their parents, amongst others, are increasingly common. In
these situations, children may fail to acquire a nationality at birth due to a
conflict in the nationality laws of different countries, particularly when one
follows the principle of jus soli (nationality on the basis of the place of birth)
and the other follows the principle of jus sanguinis (nationality on the basis
of descent). In the context of increased global interaction with frequent
movement of people across borders, it is no longer feasible for States to
avoid leaving people without a nationality solely through the independent
application of national laws; a coordinated international approach is needed. 24
The creation of this legal framework is an important step to ensure that
ongoing developments both at a national and international level foster the
creation of national laws, in line with regional and international standards.
10