Introduction nationality to their own children. More recently, the naturalization and denaturalization of stateless populations and individuals for political reasons has become a common point of discontent in the waves of demonstrations and calls for reform that have swept through the region. The situation has become more complex due to recent changes which came about as a result of what was once named the Arab Spring: the uprisings that arose and spread across the Arab world in 2011. The movement originated in Tunisia in December 2010 and has since effected Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. With this current instability and turmoil in the region, which is challenging social, political and economic trends, many States are being forced to re-evaluate who the nationals of their country are. We have seen cases of stateless persons themselves placing their right to citizenship at the forefront of their demands.3 It was against this backdrop that the need for this report was established. Although there is an understanding of the separate trends and communities in the region, a comparative report that offered a more holistic and broad discussion of the issue as a regional one, 3 - See for example, Thomsons Reuters, Kuwait clamps down as stateless Bidoons call for citizenship,2014 at http://www.trust.org/item/20140226122324-yd0no/ 11