Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, Rights Realization Centre and Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council at the 33rd Session of the Universal Periodic Review Qatar Introduction 1. The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (Institute)1, Rights Realization Centre (RRC), and the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights2, welcome the opportunity to make this submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in relation to discrimination in nationality laws, statelessness challenges, and arbitrary deprivation of nationality in Qatar. 2. The Institute is an independent non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting an integrated, human rights based response to the injustice of statelessness and exclusion. Established in August 2014, it is the first and only global centre committed to promoting the human rights of stateless persons and ending statelessness. The Institute has made over 35 country specific UPR submissions on the human rights of stateless persons, and also compiled summaries of the key human rights challenges related to statelessness in all countries under review under the 23rd to the 31st UPR Sessions.3 3. The RRC is an independent charitable organisation registered in 2018 in the United Kingdom4. It seeks to promote and protect international human rights standards in states in the Middle East and North Africa, and Horn of Africa regions. 4. The Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights mobilizes international action for the removal of gender discriminatory provisions from all nationality laws through its coalition of national and international organizations and activists. 5. This joint submission addresses three main issues: discrimination against women in nationality legislation, the protracted statelessness experienced by certain groups in the country, and the arbitrary deprivation of nationality of Qatari citizens. These issues create and/or prolong statelessness, while also negatively impacting a range of other human rights. 1 For more information about the Institute, please consult its website: http://www.institutesi.org For more information about the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, please consult its website: https://www.equalnationalityrights.org/ 3 For more information on the Institute’s UPR advocacy, in particular, see: http://www.statelessnessandhumanrights.org/upruniversal-periodicreview/resources-database 4 For more information about the RRC, charity number 1178519, please see: http://beta.charitycommission.gov.uk/charitydetails/?regid=1178519&subid=0 2 1