provisions are also in violation of the prohibition against discrimination contained in Article 2 CRC.20 14. In 2011, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) raised this issue with the Dutch authorities following the publication of its mapping of statelessness in the Netherlands.21 In 2013, these concerns were echoed in the findings of a study by the Advisory Committee on Migration Affairs.22 In 2014, the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe recommended that the Dutch authorities remove the requirement of lawful stay to opt for Dutch nationality.23 In 2015, the Committee on the Rights of the Child addressed these problematic conditions in its Concluding Observations on the Netherlands, as follows: ‘The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that all stateless children born in its territory, irrespective of residency status, have access to citizenship without any conditions. In particular, it recommends the State party not to adopt the proposed requirement of parents’ cooperation with the authorities’. 24 This recommendation was reiterated by the Committee in 2022. 15. In response to these criticisms, the Dutch Ministry for Security and Justice developed a legislative proposal to address the existing deficiencies in the ‘option procedure’. The legislative proposal was published for internet consultation in 2016 and finally submitted to Parliament in December 2020.25 However, the legislative proposal only tackled some of the above concerns and still would not bring stateless children’s right to acquire Dutch nationality in line with either international or regional standards. Rather than simply removing the condition of lawful residence, the legislative proposal introduces an additional requirement for stateless children born in the Netherlands without lawful residence. Namely, the child would need to have enjoyed stable, principal residence for a period of at least ten years, of which five years should be uninterrupted residence prior to the application. According to the Explanatory Memorandum, the child and their parent(s) must have continuously and fully cooperated with the immigration authorities, including in the context of deportation proceedings, for residence to be considered stable, making the child’s right to a nationality contingent on the actions of the parents.26 16. The additional requirement of ‘stable residence’ is not in compliance with Article 1 of the 1961 Convention, because it adds a requirement of continuous cooperation with the authorities, which is not part of the 1961 Convention.27 The Dutch Council of State has confirmed this in its advice relating to the legislative proposal and has urged the Government to remove the additional requirement.28 In addition, the requirement of 10 20 Ibid Article 2. On the question of habitual residence, see also UNCHR Guidelines on Statelessness No. 4: Ensuring Every Child’s Right to Acquire a Nationality through Articles 1-4 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, 2012, https://www.refworld.org/docid/50d460c72.html, paras 40-43. 21 UNHCR, Mapping Statelessness in the Netherlands, 2011, https://www.refworld.org/docid/4eef65da2.html. 22 ACVZ, Geen land te bekennen, 2013, available in English at: https://www.adviescommissievoorvreemdelingenzaken.nl/binaries/adviescommissievoorvreemdelingenzaken/documenten/pu blicaties/2014/09/11/nocountry-of-one%E2%80%99s-own/No_country_of_ones_own_ACVZ_report_20140911.pdf. 23 High Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Report by Nils Muiznieks following his visit to the Netherlands from 20-22 May 2014, p. 31-33, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/54bd1d604.html. 24 CRC/C/NLD/CO/4, para. 33 https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared%20Documents/NLD/INT_CRC_COC_NLD_20805_E.pdf. 25 Ibid. N.13. 26 See https://www.tweedekamer.nl/downloads/document?id=e10340d8-92ef-4157-849b0436876b6631&title=Memorie%20van%20toelichting.pdf. The original language of this passage from the Draft Explanatory Memorandum in Dutch is as follows: “Slechts indien het kind en de ouders het vertrek niet hebben gefrustreerd en zich niet hebben onttrokken aan toezicht, kan het verblijf stabiel worden geacht”. 27 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, Article 1. 28 See https://www.raadvanstate.nl/@116933/w03-17-0286-ii/. 5