European States’ Obligations to Repatriate the Children Detained in Camps in Northeast Syria their nationality.181 In principle, questions of nationality fall within the domestic jurisdiction of each State. However, States must enact their laws governing the acquisition, renunciation, or loss of nationality in a manner that is consistent with their international obligations, 182 including in particular, with their human rights obligations. Since nationality is a core component of children’s social identity and personal development, and because the right to nationality is an enabling right to the exercise and enjoyment of other human rights, ensuring nationality from birth is critical in protecting the rights of children. International law recognizes the particular needs and vulnerability of children, provides for specific protections, and accordingly places specific obligations on States with respect to children’s right to nationality.183 Every child has the right to acquire and preserve their nationality.184 States, in all of their actions, have an obligation to recognize the special needs and circumstances of each child for protection against arbitrary deprivation of nationality, with the best interests of the child as a primary consideration. 185 Children’s right to acquire nationality obliges States to implement this right, especially where the child would otherwise be stateless. Because “being stateless as a child is generally an antithesis to the best interests of 181 UDHR, Article 15; ICCPR, Article 24; CEDAW, Article 9(2); European Convention on Nationality (“ECN”), Articles 4 and 6: The ECN does not use the language of “rights” but does set out rules for States Parties to follow concerning acquisition of nationality that are intended to prevent statelessness. Although the ECHR does not guarantee the right to nationality as such, the recent case law of the ECtHR shows that some aspects of this right are protected under Article 8 of the Convention, which enshrines the right to respect for private and family life. See: PACE, Resolution 2263(2019), para. 3. 182 The Permanent Court of International Justice (“PCIJ”), “Advisory Opinion of 1923 by the Permanent Court of International Justice in the Tunis and Morocco Nationality Decrees Case” , 1923, PCIJ Series B, No. 4, p. 24; where the Court stresses that “[t]he question whether a certain matter is or is not solely within the domestic jurisdiction of a State is an essentially relative question; it depends on the development of international relations”; 1930 Hague Convention on Certain Questions Relating to the Conflict of Nationality Laws, Articles 1 and 2; 1930, the Convention on Certain Questions Relating to the Conflict of Nationality Laws Article 15. See also: UN General Assembly (“UNGA”), “Resolution on the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees”, A/RES/50/152, 9 February 1996, para. 16 and Human Rights Council, “Resolution on the Right to A Nationality: Women and Children”, A/HRC/RES/20/4, 16 July 2012, paras. 2, 9. 183 CRC, Article 2, 7 and 8(1); ICCPR, Article 24; 1961 UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, Articles 1-6; ICRMW, Article 29; CRPD, Article 18(2), ECN, Article 6. See also: HRComm, “General Comment No. 17: Article 24 (Rights of the Child)”, 7 April 1989, para. 8. See: UNICEF and ISI, “The Child’s Right to a Nationality and Childhood Statelessness: Texts And Materials”. See also: Gerard-René De Groot, “Children, Their Right to a Nationality and Child Statelessness,” Nationality and Statelessness under International Law (eds. Alice Edwards, Laura van Waas), Cambridge University Press, 2014, p. 144 ff. 184 Ibid. See also: OSJI/ISI, “Principles on Deprivation of Nationality as a Security Measure,” 2020, Principle 9.7.1. 185 Human Rights Council, “Resolution on Human Rights and Arbitrary Deprivation of Nationality”, A/HRC/RES/13/2, 14 April 2010, para. 8; Human Rights Council, “Resolution on Human Rights and Arbitrary Deprivation of Nationality”, A/HRC/RES/26/14, 11 July 2014, para. 8. 35