European States’ Obligations to Repatriate the Children Detained in Camps in Northeast Syria by birth;270 therefore differentiation between nationals by birth and nationals by naturalization in domestic laws may lead to a violation of the nondiscrimination principle.271 The number and range of grounds for involuntary loss and deprivation of nationality vary significantly from one State to another across Europe. 272 Worryingly, in the past few years, a significant number of European States have introduced and/or expanded their rules on revocation of nationality. Most of them now consider offenses against national security, including terrorism-related crimes, as legitimate grounds for deprivation of nationality,273 and some of the new laws lack safeguards against statelessness or fail to maintain equality among nationals.274 European States’ practice of revoking—as a national security measure—the nationality of individuals believed to be affiliated with ISIS is likely to be arbitrary and can result in statelessness.275 In addition, it disproportionately 270 Human Rights Council, “Report of the Secretary-General on Human Rights and Arbitrary Deprivation of Nationality”, A/HRC/25/28, 19 December 2013, para. 6. 271 Note that Article 5(2) of the European Convention on Nationality. “Each State Party shall be guided by the principle of non-discrimination between its nationals, whether they are nationals by birth or have acquired its nationality subsequently.” 272 For more information see: Jules Lepoutre, “Citizenship Loss and Deprivation in the European Union (27 + 1)”, EUI Working Paper RSCAS2020/29, May 2020. 273 See: Alessandra Spadaro, “Repatriation of Family Members of Foreign Fighters: Individual Right or State Prerogative?”, Cambridge University Press, 26 November 2020, p. 264. For further information, see: Center for Global Policy, “The Children of ISIS Detainees: Europe’s Dilemma”, 2020, p. 12; Thomas Renard and Rik Coolsaet, “From Bad to Worse: The Fate of European Foreign Fighters and Families Detained in Syria, One Year After the Turkish Offensive”, 2020, p. 6; Meghan Benton and Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, “Foreign Fighters: Will Revoking Citizenship Mitigate the Threat?”, Migration Policy Institute, 3 April 2019; Maarten P. Bolhuis and Joris van Wijk, “Citizenship Deprivation as a Counterterrorism Measure in Europe; Possible Follow-Up Scenarios, Human Rights Infringements and the Effect on Counterterrorism”, European Journal of Migration and Law 22, 2020, p. 338–365. Jules Lepoutre, “Citizenship Loss and Deprivation in the European Union (27 + 1)”, EUI Working Paper RSCAS2020/29, May 2020, p. 8. For illustrative purposes, see Denmark: DW, “Denmark Approves Stripping IS Fighters of Citizenship”, 24 October 2019; The Defense Post, “Denmark Strips 2 ISIS Adherents of Citizenship Under New Law”, 26 November 2020. See The Netherlands: Nationaal Coördinator Terrorismebestrijding en Veiligheid “Rapportage Integrale Aanpak Terrorisme,” 18 April 2019; Tom Land Boekestein and Gerard-René de Groot, “Discussing the Human Rights Limits on Loss of Citizenship: a Normative-Legal Perspective on Egalitarian Arguments Regarding Dutch Nationality Laws Targeting Dutch-Moroccans” Citizenship Studies, Volume 23, Issue 4, 2019, p. 323. See the UK: The Guardian, “Red Cross Criticises UK For Stripping Isis Recruits Of Citizenship”, 30 November 2019; The Independent, “Ministers Refuse to Reveal How Many Extremists They Have Stripped of British Citizenship”, 9 February 2020. See Germany: Guy Chazanm “Germany to Strip Dual-Nationals Who Fight for Isis of Citizenship”, Financial Times, 4 March 2019. 274 Between naturalized citizens and birth right citizens; or between people with dual and single citizenship. For example, “because of concerns over statelessness, most countries differentiate between dual/naturalized citizens and citizens by birth. But in some cases, new policies have pushed the bounds of international law. The UK expanded the scope of its existing laws on revoking citizenship to allow them to be applied even if individuals are made stateless, provided they have a reasonable chance of acquiring citizenship elsewhere.” See: Meghan Benton and Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, “Foreign Fighters: Will Revoking Citizenship Mitigate the Threat?”, Migration Policy Institute, 3 April 2019. 275 OSJI/ISI, Principles on Deprivation of Nationality as a Security Measure, 2020, Introduction, p. 2. 49