9. Cambodia has acceded to 7 of the 8 core human rights treaties and has signed the eighth – the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW). Of the seven core treaties ratified, many guarantee the right to a nationality for all on a nondiscriminatory basis. These include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (“ICCPR”) (Article 24), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (“CRC”) (Articles 7 and 8), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (“CEDAW”) (Article 9), and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (“CERD”) (Article 5). Of particular significance is Article 7 of the CRC, which provides that every child’s right to be registered immediately after a birth and to acquire a nationality - protecting all children from statelessness. Similarly, in relation to the right to a nationality the CERD provides that ‘’States Parties undertake to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law’’. Cambodia is also obligated to guarantee all rights enshrined in ICESCR without discrimination of any kind, including on the basis of “race, colour… national or social origin…birth or other status.”8 10. Many UN Treaty bodies have commented and made recommendations on the right to a nationality, statelessness risks and general human rights protection of minority groups in Cambodia, including ethnic Vietnamese and the Khmer Krom. For example, in 2010 the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD Committee) requested that Cambodia show how it was ensuring ‘equal protection and access to basic human rights (education, standard of living, health care) to all persons under the jurisdiction of the State, including minority groups such as the Khmer Krom and ethnic Vietnamese (CERD/C/KHM/13, paras. 44, 51). As some members of the Khmer Krom and ethnic Vietnamese groups do not have a Khmer ID card, how can their basic rights be guaranteed?’.9 However, the CERD Committee did not go on to question whether this community should have access to an identity card. Cambodia responded with information as to initiatives aimed at ensuring universal access to education, but did not address citizenship and statelessness issues. 11. Furthermore, the Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women has highlighted that “women of Vietnamese origin undergo considerable difficulties in the registration of births and the acquisition of Cambodian citizenship, which places them at risk of statelessness’ and recommended that Cambodia ‘intensify efforts to facilitate the birth registration of children born to Vietnamese mothers and their acquisition of citizenship”.10 12. Lastly, the Human Rights Committee has recommended that Cambodia ‘facilitate access to identification documentation’ and ‘guarantee the right of children who were born on the territory of Cambodia to stateless parents to acquire a nationality’.11 13. As a member State of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Cambodia is a signatory to the 2012 ASEAN Human Rights Declaration. Although this declaration is a non-binding document, it nonetheless reflects consensus as to the importance of human rights in the region and the right to a nationality (article 18 of the 2012 ASEAN Human Rights Declaration). 14. In addition to Human Rights Treaties, Cambodia is also party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its Protocol. However, the state is not a party to the 1954 and 1961 UN Statelessness Conventions. 8 Article 2.3. Acceded to 4 January 1978. Article 5, CERD/C/KHM/Q/8–13 10 Paras 30-31 CEDAW/C/KHM/CO/4-5. 11 Para 27, CCPR/C/KHM/CO/2 9 4