Regional Report on Citizenship: The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) residents there.47 The Egyptian law requires that the father originate from a country in which Arabic is the principal language and that Islam is the principal religion.48 Foundlings: The term foundling refers to a child that is in effect found (has been abandoned), and whose place of birth and parents are unknown. As such, the authorities are unable to determine either of the two significant characteristics that would indicate a nationality for the child: neither a ius soli nor a ius sanguinis link may be evident. Therefore, in many countries, additional safeguards exist in the nationality law for foundlings, to ensure that they are able to acquire a nationality. The MENA region is positive in this regard: all nationality laws have included the right of any foundling found on their territory to obtain a nationality. Although some laws slightly differ as to what age a foundling may be, when a foundling is born anywhere in the MENA region and the place of birth is not established, all laws stipulate that they shall a national. This safeguard is understood to be implemented in all countries fully – apart from in one circumstance where in practice exceptions seem to be being made. In countries where hosting a large refugee population (mostly from conflicts in neighbouring countries), at times when there is a child who is found, but in an area where many of the displaced reside, there will be no implementation of the foundling safeguard as there may be a belief that the child’s parents are from the displaced population and not nationals.49 Naturalisation Ordinary Naturalisation: Eligibility for naturalisation is usually tied to a specific period of residence in the territory – long enough to allow the state to consider that the individual “belongs” and therefore has the right to apply to be a national. 50 The requirements for naturalising in the MENA region differ greatly from country to country – this difference can be seen for example in the minimum period of residence set out by MENA states that would render an individual eligible to apply. For example, in Israel acquisition of nationality as a Jew is automatic and does not require any residency, whereas for non-Jews there is a minimum of three years residence. In other countries, such as Jordan, Morocco, Iran, Tunisia and Syria the legislation requires a minimum of between four to five years of residence, whereas Algeria and Egypt require between seven and ten years. However, most of the countries of the Gulf, such as Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the UAE, have residency requirements of between 20-30 years. This disparity can be explained by the restrictive approach to nationality that is prevalent in the Gulf region (see Section 1.4 above), whereas in other sub-regions there has been more of an open and welcoming approach to naturalisation at the time of independence and creation of nationality legislations. Most countries in the Gulf sub-region also have quotas on the number of naturalisations that can occur yearly. For example, article 17 of the Qatari nationality law stipulates that a maximum of 50 persons can be naturalised per year. 47 Code de la nationalité Marocaine (2011) Article 9(1). Law No. 26 of 1975 Concerning Egyptian Nationality, Article 4(3). 49 See, ISI, NRC, Understanding Statelessness in the Syria Refugee Context, 2016 access at https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/reports/understanding-statelessness-in-the-syria-refugee-context.pdf 50 What is also important to note is that naturalisation is not an option at all in Lebanon, the state which arguably has the most delicate demographic balance, where a foreigner may become Lebanese only through marriage to a male citizen. 48 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-Comp. 2017/3- © 2017 Author(s) 13