Nationality and Cases of Statelessness in the Middle East and North Africa MENA countries. Although most nationality laws have succeeded in ‘secularising’ nationality, some retain religious criteria. Thus, it was shown that in Kuwait, only Muslims are eligible for naturalisation. As noted in the previous paragraph, Yemen requires an applicant for naturalisation to be either Arab or Muslim. Furthermore, in the foregoing section on loss and deprivation of nationality, it was noted that religious beliefs – or a change of religion – may lead to the withdrawal of nationality. This was found to be the case in Kuwait, where being a Muslim is a prerequisite for naturalisation and a person who subsequent to their successful acquisition of nationality renounces Islam risks forfeiting their naturalised Kuwaiti nationality. In Oman, atheism or “belonging to an anti-religious group” was noted to be a ground, under the law, for deprivation of nationality. In each of these cases, religious considerations have crept into the terrain of nationality policy and have even been formally codified. Elsewhere in the region, religion has also played a significant role and discrimination has pervaded nationality policy, albeit more covertly. For instance, in Lebanon, maintaining the country’s (perceived) confessional balance has long been the most significant consideration in debates surrounding and implementation of nationality policy.176 In 176 - See, for instance, “Lebanese Citizenship: Given arbitrarily” in The Monthly, Information International, Issue 94, May 2010; G. Hourani, The 1994 Naturalisation 134