5. The submission focuses on: I. II. III. Statelessness determination and status Liberty and security of the person and arbitrary detention Children’s right to a nationality Previous UPR of Belgium under the First and Second Cycle 1. Belgium was previously reviewed during the 11th and 24th sessions of the UPR, in 2011 and 2016, respectively. During the first cycle, Belgium received one recommendation from Kyrgyzstan to accelerate the process of withdrawal of declarations under Article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child concerning the non-discrimination principle, which limits the enjoyment of the Convention rights by children who do not have Belgian nationality. Belgium noted this recommendation. 5 Belgium did not receive any recommendations related to nationality, statelessness, and birth registration during the second cycle. 2. In the second cycle, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recommended that Belgium should (i) adopt a specific, accessible, fair and effective procedure for the recognition of statelessness, or improve the existing procedure, in accordance with the 1954 Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons and the guiding principles of UNHCR, (ii) grant a residence permit to recognised stateless persons in Belgium, (iii) grant a temporary residence permit to applicants pending the statelessness determination procedure, and (iv) issue travel documents to all stateless persons lawfully residing in Belgium.6 3. In 2019, the Committee on the Rights of the Child welcomed Belgium’s efforts to accede to the 1954 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.7 Also, the Human Rights Committee recommended that Belgium adopt legislation on statelessness for the granting of nationality or residence permits to persons recognised as stateless.8 International Obligations 4. Belgium has international obligations to protect the right to a nationality and protect the rights of stateless persons on the basis of UN and regional treaties to which it is a party. These include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (see Article 24.3), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) (see Articles 2.2 and 3), the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) (see Articles 2, 3, 7 and 8), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (see Article 9), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) (see Article 5(d)(iii)), the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) (see Article 18) and the 5 A/HRC/18/3, Para 102.7, Human Rights Council, eighteenth session, Universal Periodic Review. UNHCR, Submission for the universal periodic review of Belgium, 2nd cycle, 24th session, p. 15, available at https://uprdoc.ohchr.org/uprweb/downloadfile.aspx?filename=2427&file=EnglishTranslation. 7 CRC/C/BEL/CO/5-6, Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding observations on the combined fifth and sixth reports of Belgium, 1 February 2019, para. 3 at https://undocs.org/CRC/C/BEL/CO/5-6. 8 CCPR/C/BEL/CO/6, Human Rights Committee, Concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of Belgium, 6 December 2019, para. 30, available at https://undocs.org/CCPR/C/BEL/CO/6. 6 2