12. Post conflict laws, which ideally should have provided further protection to this community, have in effect, contributed to their increased vulnerability.28 For example, the 1993 Constitution guarantees rights and freedoms regardless of race, but it often uses the Khmer word for “Khmer citizen ”or “Khmer people”, perpetuating the notion of citizenship is based on Khmer ethnicity and entrenching the status of ethnic Vietnamese as non-citizens.29 13. The 1996 Law on Nationality (“1996 Nationality Law”) continued exclusionary language that bases citizenship on Khmer ethnicity. The 1996 Nationality Law allowed for four mechanisms by which to acquire citizenship: birth, marriage, naturalisation, or other special basis like investment.30 For citizenship through birth in the Kingdom of Cambodia, both parents were required to have legal residence and be born in Cambodia. However, the law did not define what constitutes legal residence or which supporting documents would be necessary. As for naturalisation, the law required that the applicant be of ‘good behaviour’, be literate in written and spoken Khmer, and lived continuously in the country for seven years, among other requirements .The decision to confer citizenship under this provision rests on an administrative authority, but without a sub-decree that specifies the responsible authority or procedures, there are large gaps left in the application of the law.31 14. Previous nationality laws are also relevant, as they are legally applicable to those who were born at the time of their functioning, which includes the 1934 Nationality law under the French protectorate and the 1954 Law on Nationality under Sihanouk.32 Those born under the latter law have a strong claim for citizenship, as it allowed for citizenship to be conferred if only one parent was born in Cambodia, without a legal residency requirement like the current law.33 15. In a potentially significant development, the Cambodian parliament passed a new Nationality Law in June 2018. As this law has been passed recently, the co-submitting organisations have not yet been able to review it fully. However, upon first review, it appears that changes to the law primarily focus on ‘citizenship by investment.34 This is a missed opportunity, given the clear need to reform the law to ensure equal access to citizenship for all persons who have a clear link to the country (including through birth on the territory and would otherwise be stateless. The new law also imposes stiff jail penalties on those who ‘illegally’ obtain citizenship as well as government agents who illegally issue citizenship documentation. While it is important to address fraud, there is a concern, that the penalisation of wrong decisions by government agents can lead to a fear to use their discretion to grant citizenship to the most vulnerable. 16. It is important to assess Cambodia’s nationality law framework against its international obligations. CRC Article 7 (right to nationality), particularly when read with Articles 2 (non-discrimination) and 3 (best interests of the child) entrenches a very clear obligation to ensure that no child is born stateless, and that the right to a nationality is enjoyed by all children, without discrimination. Consequently, a 28 The information detailed in the section of this submission titled “Law and policy challenges” is drawn largely from research completed by Minority Rights Group International – see http://minorityrights.org/?s=cambodia 29 http//:minorityrights.org/publications/minorities-in-cambodia-june-1995/ ; 30 https//:jrscambodia.org/publication/boat_without_anchors_jrs.pdf 31 https//:jrscambodia.org/publication/boat_without_anchors_jrs.pdf 32 https//:jrscambodia.org/publication/boat_without_anchors_jrs.pdf 33 https//:jrscambodia.org/publication/boat_without_anchors_jrs.pdf; https//:www.google.co.th/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjviNLdnc7TAhVFtY8KHZZpAj MQFggxMAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcadmus.eui.eu%2Fbitstream%2Fhandle%2F1814%2F45084%2FGLOBALCIT_2017_02_Cambodia.pdf% 3Fsequence%3D3&usg=AFQjCNH6Qzog5YHjGJcxt6eDAt1_qfK66A&sig2=fdA06Y8pmCgR26Xsc4mBVg 34 See https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/draft-nationality-law-approved and https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/senate-approves-law-citizenship for further information. 8