European States’ Obligations to Repatriate the Children Detained in Camps in Northeast Syria and are, therefore, unable to avail themselves of the protection of the State, which places them at extreme risk of statelessness.230 European States have an obligation towards children born abroad, to confer the nationality of their parent where they are entitled to acquire this nationality; otherwise that would constitute arbitrary deprivation of nationality, especially where it results in statelessness. Therefore, European States must take every appropriate measure, without delay and, if necessary, in cooperation with other States, to overcome the legal or practical obstacles that may impede access to the protection or assertion of nationality.231 Under no circumstances, by act or omission, should States implement laws or policies that render children stateless.232 If necessary, European States must take immediate steps to reform their nationality laws accordingly. 233 There are also some practical implications of these obligations, which are critical for children detained in the camps who are facing difficulty in proving they have acquired nationality and/or in proving their “otherwise stateless” status. In this regard, when trying to establish proof of nationality or statelessness, European States must develop and implement fast, effective, flexible, and accessible identification mechanisms for children in the camps, and, when necessary, must provide resources to the relevant local administrations, request support from the international community, and seek the assistance of UN entities operating in the region. 234 However, most European States seem unwilling to facilitate the process of identifying their child nationals and in most cases strictly require the verification of children’s nationality through DNA testing as a condition of repatriation.235 The viability of a systematic DNA test requirement, 230 For more information see: UNHCR, “UNHCR and De Facto Statelessness”, LPPR/2010/01, April 2010, pp. 32-53. 231 OSCE/ODIHR, “Guidelines for Addressing the Threats and Challenges of ‘Foreign Terrorist Fighters’ within a Human Rights Framework”, 2018, p. 70. UN, “Key Principles for the Protection, Repatriation, Prosecution, Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Women and Children with Links to United Nations listed Terrorist Groups”, April 2019, p. 4. 233 In particular if the law discriminates with regard to the transmission or acquisition of nationality on the basis of parents’ alleged links with ISIS, as it is the case of Denmark. See: DW, “Denmark Approves Stripping IS Fighters of Citizenship”, 24 October 2019; Meghan Benton and Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, “Foreign Fighters: Will Revoking Citizenship Mitigate the Threat?”, Migration Policy Institute, 3 April 2019. 234 UNHCR, “Nationality and Statelessness: Handbook for Parliamentarians N° 22”, July 2014, p. 37 ff; CommRC, “Concluding observations on the combined 5th and 6th periodic reports of Belgium”, CRC/C/BEL/CO/5-6 (80th session) 14 January - 1 February 2019, para. 50(a); UNCCT, “Handbook Children Affected by the Foreign-Fighter Phenomenon: Ensuring A Child Rights-Based Approach”, 2019, para. 96. 235 Vivian Yee, “Thousands of ISIS Children Suffer in Camps as Countries Grapple With Their Fate”, The New York Times, 8 May 2019. 232 43