From a Traditional International Law Approach to a Human Rights-Based Approach to Statelessness These developments gradually changed the way in which scholars thought about statelessness as a phenomenon, i.e. a violation of human rights. In 1994, Goodwin-Gill criticised the traditional, technical approach to statelessness, and called for academics and practitioners to look at the underlying human rights issues.79 He argued that “statelessness is indeed a broad human rights issue, even as it retains a distinct technical dimension.”80 Arbitrary deprivation of nationality as a cause of statelessness shows the interplay between the technical dimension of statelessness on the one hand, and the human rights dimension on the other. Today, arbitrary deprivation of nationality and discrimination are considered as the main drivers of statelessness.81 The role of discrimination is testified by UNHCR’s estimation that 75 per cent of the world’s stateless population belongs to minority groups.82 In 2018, the Special Rapporteur on minority issues recognised the existence of a pattern of statelessness affecting minority groups, as a result of arbitrary nationality deprivation.83 Nationality deprivation encompasses both the impossibility to obtain any nationality, and all forms of loss of nationality, both automatically by operation of the law and by a decision of the administrative authorities.84 As such, the meaning is broader than ‘denationalisation’, which was the notion primarily used by traditional international lawyers. Nationality deprivation is considered arbitrary when it is unlawful, discriminatory, or when there is a lack of due process.85 The Human Rights Council (HRC) has listed the following grounds as discriminatory: race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.86 While denationalisation was already considered as a cause of statelessness early on, traditional international lawyers failed to grasp the full extent of the role that discrimination plays in the creation of statelessness. One of these prominent forms of discrimination causing statelessness is gender discrimination. Today, many States still have nationality laws in place that do not grant women equal rights with men to acquire, change and retain their nationality.87 In some States, women are not allowed to pass on their nationality to their children, thereby causing an increased risk of childhood statelessness.88 While gender discrimination is a root cause of statelessness, the drafters of the 1961 Convention did not yet recognise it as such. Another relevant form of discrimination is racial discrimination. For example, some African States only grant their Guy S Goodwin-Gill, ‘The Rights of Refugees and Stateless Persons’ in Krishan Prasad Saksena (ed), Human Rights Perspective and Challenges (in 1990 and Beyond) (Lancers Books 1994), 378, 389, as cited by Foster and Lambert (n 44), 565. 80 ibid. 81 UNHCR ‘Background Note on Discrimination in Nationality Laws and Statelessness’ (20 October 2021), 3 <https://www.refworld.org/docid/616fda104.html>. 82 ibid. 83 UNGA ‘Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities’ (20 July 2018) UN Doc A/73/205, para. 21. 84 Human Rights Council (HRC) ‘Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality: Report of the Secretary-General’ (14 December 2009) UN Doc A/HRC/13/34, para. 23. 85 van Waas (n 69), 94-95. 86 HRC ‘Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality’ (26 March 2009) UN Doc A/HRC/RES/10/13. 87 HRC ‘Report on discrimination against women on nationality-related matters, including the impact on children: Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights’ (15 March 2013) UN Doc A/HRC/23/23, para. 19. 88 ibid, paras. 34-39. 79 European University Institute 9