territory of the State in which they are found to parents possessing the nationality of that State. Therefore, foundlings are to be considered as nationals of this State.27 In all five States, a child born abroad to two nationals becomes a citizen automatically at birth28 as does a child born abroad to one national and a parent who is stateless or unknown.29 If a child is born abroad to a national and a foreigner, the laws of four of the five States30 establish that the child only becomes a national at birth if one or both parents were permanently resident in their State of nationality at the time of the child’s birth. For a child born to parents permanently resident abroad, on the other hand, the child’s nationality must be agreed in writing by his/her parents. In the case of Kyrgyzstan, written agreement is required regardless of the parents’ residence status in Kyrgyzstan.31 Only Tajikistan appears to set a deadline for the parents’ decision. They must send the authorities a copy of the child’s birth certificate with their written agreement before he or she is one year old.32 In line with guidance provided by the UN Human Rights Committee and the Committee on the Rights of the Child, all five States provide for equal rights of children born in and out of wedlock to acquire the nationality of the State.33 Likewise, all five States give men and women equal rights to pass on their citizenship to children born within and outside of their territories, in line with their obligations under the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).34 Acquisition of nationality through restoration All five Central Asian States legislate for the reacquisition of nationality by former nationals.35 In all five, the restoration process is similar to naturalization and requires a formal application and approval by the President. In Kyrgyzstan, restoration of nationality also involves one year’s residence, before the application can be submitted, while no residence requirements appear to exist in the other States. Gaps compared to international standards ► None of the States in the region guarantees children born on its territory the citizenship of the State where they ‘would otherwise be stateless’.36 Although they all have safeguards to grant citizenship at 27 Article 2, 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Article 11, 1991 Citizenship law of Kazakhstan; Article 12(1), 2007 Citizenship Law of Kyrgyzstan; Article 12, 1992 Citizenship law of Turkmenistan; Article 16, 1995 Citizenship Law of Tajikistan; Article 13, 1992 Citizenship Law of Uzbekistan. 29 Article 12, 1991 Law on Citizenship of Kazakhstan; Article 12(3), 2007 Citizenship Law of Kyrgyzstan; Article 13, 1992 Citizenship Law of Turkmenistan; Article 17, 1995 Citizenship Law of Tajikistan; Article 14, 1992 Citizenship Law of Uzbekistan. 30 Article 12, 1991 Law on Citizenship of Kazakhstan; Article 13, 1992 Citizenship Law of Turkmenistan; Article 17, 1995 Citizenship Law of Tajikistan; Article 14, 1992 Citizenship Law of Uzbekistan. 31 Article 12(2), 2007 Citizenship Law of Kyrgyzstan. 32 Article 12, 1996 Regulation No 611 ‘On the Procedure for Considering Issues related to the Citizenship of the Republic of Tajikistan’. In the national roundtable held in Dushanbe in preparation for the regional conference, a representative from the Ministry of Justice said that Tajiks who are married to foreigners and living abroad and who lack access to a consulate, can receive a birth certificate in Tajikistan after this deadline on the basis of a hospital attestation from the country where the child was born. 33 Article 12, 1991 Law on Citizenship of Kazakhstan, as amended in 2002; Article 13, 1992 Citizenship Law of Turkmenistan; Article 17, 1995 Citizenship Law of Tajikistan; Article 12, 2007 Citizenship Law of Kyrgyzstan; Article 16, 1992 Citizenship Law of Uzbekistan. 34 Article 9.2, UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). 35 Article 20, 1992 Citizenship Law of Turkmenistan; Article 25, 1995 Citizenship Law of Tajikistan; Article 18, 1991 Citizenship Law of Kazakhstan; Articles 15 and 13, 2007 Citizenship Law of Kyrgyzstan; Article 18, 1992 Citizenship Law of Uzbekistan. 36 Art. 3.1(2) of the 1991 Citizenship Law of Kazakhstan provides that persons, who were born in Kazakhstan and are not national of any other country, shall be Kazakh citizens. At the time of publication of this report, UNHCR was not aware whether this provision is used in practice to grant nationality to children born on territory who would otherwise be stateless. 28 ~ 11 ~