Country Position Paper: Statelessness in Iraq instead. In these cases, the child applying for nationality has to be resident in Iraq at the time of the application and must apply within one year of reaching maturity.16 Moreover, the final decision as to whether nationality is granted is subject to the Iraqi Minister of Interior’s discretion. 17 These administrative steps are overly burdensome and contradict Article 14 of the Iraqi Constitution, which provides, “Iraqis are equal before the law without discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, origin, colour, religion, sect, belief or opinion or economic or social status.” 18 The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) described the procedural requirements as “strict and may be difficult to fulfil in practice” and that “…even if all legal requirements have been established to the satisfaction of the government, it retains the discretion power to deny applications for Iraqi nationality.”19 2.2 Stateless Children Born in Iraq Iraq’s Nationality Law is based on the jus sanguinis doctrine, with nationality passed on from parent to child as set out above. A child born in Iraq does not automatically acquire Iraqi nationality. There is also no provision for acquisition of nationality through birth on the territory for a child who would otherwise be stateless (e.g. born to stateless parents or to parents who cannot confer nationality). As such, statelessness is an intergenerational issue in Iraq. Moreover, Article 6(II) of the Nationality Law explicitly states that nationality shall not be granted to Palestinians, so they do not lose their right to return. Under Article 3(b) of the Nationality Law, a child born in Iraq to unknown parentsis granted Iraqi nationality.20 In the case of a foundling, the law provides that unless there is evidence to the contrary, the foundling shall be considered as born in Iraq and will therefore acquire Iraqi nationality. Article 5 of the Nationality Law also provides for an application under which nationality may be requested for a child born in Iraq of a non-Iraqi father, providing that the father was also born in Iraq and remained a resident there. The conferral of nationality under this procedure is at the discretion of the Minister and is also gender discriminatory in nature. 2.3 Deprivation and Reinstatement of Nationality Article 18(3)(A) of the Iraqi Constitution provides that, “an Iraqi citizen by birth may not have his citizenship withdrawn for any reason. Any person who has had his citizenship withdrawn shall have the right to demand its reinstatement.” Under article 18(3)(B) of the Iraqi Constitution, however, “Iraqi citizenship shall be withdrawn from naturalised citizens in cases regulated by law”. Article 15 of the Nationality Law specifies in this regard that after a final court judgment has proven that the person in question has planned or committed an act against State security or safety, the Minister of Interior can withdraw nationality. Article 15 of the Nationality Law states, “The Minister may, following a final court judgment, withdraw Iraqi nationality from a naturalised non-Iraqi if he…has provided wrong information of himself or his family upon submitting the application.” This is a very broad definition and many people may be captured by this provision by providing ‘wrong information’ through no fault of https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2007917/5cd198ad7.pdf 16 Article 1(c) of the Nationality Law states that the age of maturity is 18 years. 17 UNHCR, Acquisition of Iraqi Nationality by a Child Born Outside Iraq, May 2019, available at: https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2007917/5cd198ad7.pdf 18 Constitution of the Republic of Iraq [Iraq], 15 October 2005, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/454f50804.html 19 UNHCR, Acquisition of Iraqi Nationality by a Child Born Outside Iraq, May 2019, available at: https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2007917/5cd198ad7.pdf 20 According to an expert consulted in 2019, in practice in their work on the ground with Yazidi survivors of ISIS captivty, ‘unknown parents‘ is understood to mean ‘unknown father‘ and the law is subsequently applied in this way. 6