Article 7
1. The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a
name, the right to acquire a nationality and. as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for
by his or her parents.
2. States Parties shall ensure the implementation of these rights in accordance with their national
law and their obligations under the relevant international instruments in this field, in particular
where the child would otherwise be stateless.
Article 8
1. States Parties undertake to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including
nationality, name and family relations as recognized by law without unlawful interference.
2. Where a child is illegally deprived of some or all of the elements of his or her identity, States
Parties shall provide appropriate assistance and protection, with a view to re-establishing speedily
his or her identity.
20. Under Barbadian law, contrary to these provisions, children’s ability to acquire the nationality of
their Barbadian mother or father is dependent upon the parent’s gender and marital status. The
denial of the child’s right to a nationality due to discrimination against their parents on grounds
of sex, marital status, or other grounds, is a violation of the CRC. In addition, Barbadian women’s
inability to confer nationality on their foreign spouses threatens a child’s right to know and be
cared for by his or her parents. For example, when foreign men are denied access to their spouses’
nationality, they may be forced to live away from their children due to challenges in acquiring
residency permits and obstacles to employment. Alternatively, the father may take any children
away from the mother and back to his home country for a number of reasons, including if his
employment and social status in his wife’s country is insecure because of his nationality status.
Either way, the child will be denied access to one of his or her parents.
21. Commenting on the child’s right to nationality in Barbados at its 74th Session, the Committee on
the Rights of the Child recommended as follows:
[T]he Committee is concerned that the Constitution and Citizenship Act contain provisions that
discriminate on the basis of the parents’ gender and marital status and do not fully safeguard
against statelessness of children.
Taking into account target 16.9 of the Sustainable Development Goals on providing legal identity
for all, including birth registration, the Committee recommends that the State party amend its
Citizenship Act and establish safeguards to prevent children from being stateless. It also
recommends that the State party consider withdrawing its reservation to the 1954 Convention