2022 Statelessness & Citizenship Review 4(1) on Nationality (‘1997 Convention’) — also address foundlings.6 Kaneko-Iwase thus argues that state practice establishes a general international principle of granting nationality to children whose parentage is unknown and who are found within a state’s territory.7 But as Kaneko-Iwase demonstrates, international instruments provide little clarity on which children should receive nationality through these provisions. Article 2 of the 1961 Convention mandates that ‘[a] foundling found in the territory of a Contracting State shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be considered to have been born within that territory of parents possessing the nationality of that State’. Like the term ‘being persecuted’ in the 1951 Refugee Convention,8 the term ‘foundling’ has no definition in the 1961 Convention or elsewhere in international law. Worse, the term is translated differently among the five official languages of the 1961 Convention.9 As a result, states differ widely as to who is protected by legislation, particularly relating to the age by which children must be ‘found’ to receive nationality and whether ‘unknown’ parentage includes situations where legal parentage is not established but a child’s parents are factually known. Legislation also varies in the method of conveying nationality and whether the grant is subject to post facto revocation or cancellation. Kaneko-Iwase explores and categorises this complexity. Sensitive to varied legal systems and political realities, she recommends how States should craft legislation to ensure broad protections against statelessness and advises the UNHCR on how to improve its own guidance to states. Chapter 1 reviews the travaux préparatoires for the 1930 Convention on Certain Questions Relating to the Conflict of Nationality Law,10 1961 Convention and 1997 Convention. It also includes an extensive examination of state legislation and practice. Chapter 2 situates the research within broader discussions of international nationality and statelessness law. Chapter 3 explores the definition of a foundling. Kaneko-Iwase argues that a foundling has two elements: being 1) a child of 2) unknown parents. Being ‘found’ is the event that triggers the state’s obligation to grant nationality to that individual, not a condition of being a foundling. Chapter 4 details the meaning of ‘unknown parents’. The term is susceptible to several meanings. A broad interpretation would mean that children can receive nationality even where their parentage may be factually known, as long as that parentage is not legally established. A narrow interpretation would mean that, where parentage is factually known, the child is not considered to be of ‘unknown parents’. Kaneko-Iwase establishes that states ought to adopt the broader meaning, in which parentage is considered ‘unknown’ when it is not established in a manner that would allow the child’s nationality to be established. 11 A narrower interpretation would mean that, even if a child is stateless because their parentage 6 7 8 9 10 11 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, opened for signature 30 August 1961, 989 UNTS 175 (entered into force 13 December 1975); European Convention on Nationality, opened for signature 6 November 1997, ETS No 166 (entered into force 1 March 2000). Kaneko-Iwase (n 4) 21. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, opened for signature 28 July 1951, 189 UNTS 137 (entered into force 22 April 1954) art 1A(2). Kaneko-Iwase (n 4) 84. Convention on Certain Questions Relating to the Conflict of Nationality Laws, opened for signature 13 April 1930, 179 LNTS 89 (entered into force 1 July 1937). Kaneko-Iwase (n 4) 229. 184