Country Position Paper: Statelessness in Iraq Recent attempts to amend these naturalisation provisions to lower the residency threshold received popular backlash and were rejected by the Parliament Security and Defence Committee. 26 The proposed amendments included allowing individuals to apply for Iraqi citizenship after two years of residence in Iraq (and in some cases one year of residence). 27 2.5 Dual Nationality Dual or multiple nationality was prohibited prior to the Iraqi Constitution of 2005 coming into effect. Under the 2005 Constitution, Article 18(4) expressly states that Iraqis are now permitted multiple nationalities. The only exception is where an individual holds a “sovereign or high-level security position”28 in Iraq, in which case the individual must relinquish any other nationality. Upon acquisition of another nationality, Iraqi nationality shall be retained unless renounced in writing (Article 10(1) of the Nationality Law). A renounced nationality can be re-acquired if the person returns to Iraq for at least one year according to Article 10(3) of the Nationality Law. This provision can only be invoked once. 3. CIVIL DOCUMENTATION 3.1 Barriers to Accessing Civil Documentation A substantial number of Iraqis lack registration of vital civil status events, and there are significant challenges in accessing or renewing marriage and birth certificates. In addition, many Iraqis have missing or damaged civil documentation. For example, in April 2019 the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) estimated, “80,000 households across conflict affected areas in Iraq have family members that are missing at least one form of civil documentation.”29 Minority groups who have been displaced report lack of access to identity documents at significantly higher rates than others.30 The accuracy and reliability of identity documents are also of concern, “[p]rocedures for issuing documentation are antiquated. Records are kept manually, and most types of documentation do not have adequate security features.”31 26 Iraqi Parliament Council, Press statement on Iraqi Nationality Law, 19 March 2019, available at: http://en.parliament.iq/2019/03/19/press-statement-on-iraqi-nationality-law/ 27 See: Middle East Monitor, Iraq parliament rejects proposed change to Nationality Law, 27 March 2019, available at: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190327-iraq-parliament-rejects-proposed-change-to-nationality-law/; Asia Monitor, Iraq weighs easing path to citizenship, 19 March 2019, available at: https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/03/article/iraq-weighs-easing-path-tocitizenship/; The Baghdad Post, Iraqis warn against planned amendments to nationality law, 19 March 2019, available at: https://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/Story/37432/Iraqis-warn-against-planned-amendments-to-nationality-law; The Baghdad Post, Nationality draft law need amendments due to defects: Legal MP, 14 May 2019, available at: https://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/Story/39527/Nationality-draft-law-need-amendments-due-to-defects-Legal-MP; The Jerusalem Post, Law amendment would open Iran to Iranian influence, say opponents, 23 March 2019, available at: https://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Law-amendment-would-open-Iraq-to-Iranian-influence-say-opponents-584337. 29 Norwegian Refugee Council, Barriers from birth: Undocumented children in Iraq sentenced to a life on the margins, April 2019, at 7, available at: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/barriers-from-birth---report.pdf. 30 International Organization for Migration, A Preliminary Assessment of Housing, Land and Property Right Issues Caused by the Current Displacement Crisis in Iraq, September 2015, at 28-29 available at: https://www.iom.int/sites/default/files/our_work/DOE/LPR/APreliminary-Assessment-of-Housing-Land-and-Property-Right-Issues-Caused-by-the-Current-Displacement-Crisis-in-Iraq.pdf. Also see US Aid, Iraq Access to Justice Program – Final Report, December 2015, at 5, 13-14 and 37, available at: https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00KTXJ.pdf. 31 Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Country Information Report – Iraq, 9 October 2017, at 5.27, available at: https://dfat.gov.au/about-us/publications/Documents/country-information-report-iraq.pdf. 8