Grounds of Discrimination Committee issued a General Recommendation in 2000 specifically about the situation of the Roma, calling on States parties to eliminate all forms of discrimination against Roma.36 Religion or belief Discrimination based on religion or belief in nationality laws is found in many States in the Middle East and North Africa region, including Algeria37 and Kuwait.38 Discriminatory provisions in these States’ nationality laws typically mix discrimination based on religion or belief with racial discrimination by drawing an equivalency between Muslims and persons of Arab descent. This equivalency and its connection with citizenship law have deep roots in history. With the advent of Islam, the kinship bonds that dominated societal organization in pre-Islamic Arabia became somewhat less important, eventually paving the way for the idea that the Islamic faith was the common bond among Islamic citizens.39 Explicitly differentiated treatment on grounds of religion can also be found in India’s 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which creates an expedited pathway to Indian citizenship for religious minorities of six religions in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who have resided in India since 2014. Muslim and other religious or belief minorities are excluded from the CAA even though Muslims, in particular, face persecution in countries covered by it. Nationality laws may also include ambiguous religion- or belief-related provisions that leave the possibility of discriminatory application and thus a risk of statelessness. Such is the case in Mongolia, where an applicant may be denied for having a religion considered “inconsistent with the Mongolian national customs and law.”40 Disability Disability discrimination is the most prevalent form of discrimination in nationality laws around the world. The highest risk of disability discrimination occurs when applying for citizenship through naturalization or similar procedures. Naturalization laws in many parts of the world contain provisions requiring an applicant to be at “full capacity,” “of sound mind,” or other analogous terminology in order to qualify. The 36 UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), CERD General Recommendation XXVII on Discrimination Against Roma, 16 August 2000, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/45139d4f4.html. 37 Article 32 of the Code de la Nationalité Algérienne (2005) includes a condition that persons claiming the Algerian nationality as nationality of origin must be Muslim. 38 Article 4 of the Kuwaiti Nationality Law, 1959, stipulates that Kuwaiti nationality may be granted by decree to persons meeting five conditions, including being of Muslim faith; Nationality Law, 1959 [Kuwait], 1959, available at: https://www. refworld.org/docid/3ae6b4ef1c.html. 39 Gianluca P. Parolin, “Citizenship in the Arab World”, 2009, Amsterdam University Press, pp. 44-45 and 61-62. 40 Law of Mongolia on Citizenship (as amended on 7 December 2000) [Mongolia], 5 June 1995, available at: https://www. refworld.org/docid/4af7dec62.html. 10 U N H C R > B AC KG R O U N D N OT E O N D I S C R I M I N AT I O N I N N AT I O N A L I T Y L AW S A N D S TAT E L E S S N E S S