11. In 2022, the Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that the Netherlands “[e]nsure that no child, including those between 16 and 17 years of age, is deprived of his or her nationality for actions that are considered to constitute a threat to national security, and also consider children’s best interests when such withdrawals of nationality are imposed on parents”.19 National law and practice 12. In its original form, as promulgated in 1984, Article 14 of the Dutch Nationality Act (DNA) only provided for deprivation of nationality where it had been obtained by fraud (currently Art. 14(1)).20 Since 2010, there has been a gradual expansion of the powers to deprive a person of their nationality for national security reasons under the DNA, with new grounds added in 2010, 2016 and 2017.21 13. The most recent of these amendments allows for the deprivation of nationality without the need for a criminal conviction, if a person voluntarily enters the foreign military service of a State involved in hostilities against the Netherlands (Article 14(3)) or joins an organisation that is listed as constituting a threat to national security (Article 14(4)).2 This measure was introduced on the pretext that it is needed to protect national security, aiming to prevent the return of alleged ‘foreign fighters’, mainly from Syria and Iraq, to the Netherlands. It has been used to target Dutch nationals who are outside the country at the time of deprivation of nationality. The measure of Article 14(4) DNA was adopted with a sunset clause, such that the power to deprive individuals of Dutch nationality on national security grounds would expire in 2022, unless legislation would be passed to extend it. An evaluation of the measure was furthermore mandated to inform any further extension. 14. In 2020, two comprehensive evaluations of Article 14(4) DNA were carried out: by the Dutch Review Committee on the Intelligence and Security Services (CTIVD) and by the Research and Documentation Centre (WODC).22 Neither evaluation provided evidence of the effectiveness of the measure. On the contrary, the data suggests that deprivation of nationality is not a useful national security tool and is likely to actually be countereffective. The CTIVD reiterates, for instance, that it is “uncertain whether the measure will have the desired effect of preventing return of foreign fighters”. The public 19 UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, ‘Concluding observations on the combined fifth and sixth periodic reports of the Netherlands’ (11 February 2022) CRC/C/NLD/CO/5-6, para 18(e). See similarly, ‘Concluding observations on the report submitted by the Netherlands under article 8 (1) of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict’ (8 July 2015) CRC/C/OPAC/NLD/CO/1, para 15. 20 For instance, when a person fails to declare in their naturalisation process that they have been convicted in the past, this would constitute an omission of a fact relevant to the naturalisation process, and would provide a ground for deprivation of nationality under Art. 14(1)). See the Handbook Dutch Nationality Act 2003, https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBW33099/2022-0101. 21 Art. 14(2) – introduced on 17 June 2010: Revocation of nationality following conviction for various criminal offences, including the commission terrorist offences, joining foreign armed forces, and offences under the Rome Statute; Art. 14(2b) – introduced on 5 March 2016: Revocation of nationality following conviction for assistance in or preparation of the commission terrorist offences; Art. 14(3) – introduced on 10 February 2017: Voluntarily entering the foreign military service of a State involved in hostilities against the Netherlands; Art. 14(4) – introduced on 10 February 2017: Joining an organization that is listed as constituting a threat to national security. 22 WODC, ‘Evaluatie wijziging van de Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap in het belang van de nationale veiligheid’ (2020), https://repository.wodc.nl/handle/20.500.12832/2488; CTIVD, ‘Toezichtsrapport. Over het handelen van de AIVD in het kader van intrekking van het Nederlanderschap in het belang van de nationale veiligheid’ (2020), p. 10, https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/kamerstukken/2020/06/16/aanbieding-ctivd-rapport-intrekking-nederlanderschap. The WODC is the knowledge institute for the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security; the CTIVD supervises the Dutch intelligence and security services. 4