4. The co-submitting organisations urge states, to take this UPR as an opportunity to make strong recommendations to Myanmar and to apply the required pressure to ensure these recommendations are acted on. But we also urge states to use this UPR as a moment of introspection, to question why and how the international community has failed to protect the Rohingya, and why this continues to be the case; and to redouble efforts to seek justice and accountability, restitution and rights. 5. In addition to addressing the genocide, crimes against humanity and other violations against the Rohingya, this submission also focuses on: I. II. III. Myanmar’s discriminatory 1982 Citizenship Law; Arbitrary and discriminatory practices related to access to civil documentation and other groups whose right to nationality is at risk; and The COVID-19 impact on the Rohingya. Previous UPR of Myanmar under the First and Second Cycle 6. Myanmar was previously reviewed during the 10th and 23rd sessions of the UPR, in 2011 and 2015 respectively. During the first cycle, Myanmar received three recommendations relevant to the right to the right to nationality and statelessness from Belgium, Hungary and Uruguay. These recommendations concerned amending the 1982 Citizenship Law to end statelessness for the Rohingya, improving birth registration and avoiding statelessness, and acceding to the Statelessness Conventions. Myanmar did not accept or note any of these recommendations.8 7. During the second cycle, Myanmar received 24 relevant recommendations, 7 of which concerned amending the 1982 Citizenship Law.9 Myanmar accepted only three recommendations, which related to the acceleration of citizenship verification processes, continued efforts for citizens to live in harmony without discrimination, and the development of a simplified birth registration system.10 Myanmar’s International Obligations 8. Myanmar is a party to a number of human rights treaties that provide for the right to a nationality and protection of the rights of stateless persons, including the Convention on the Rights of a Child (see articles 7 and 8), International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (see article 9), Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (see article 18),11 and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (see article 2.2). Myanmar is also party to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. However, Myanmar is not a party to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons nor the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 8 United Nations Human Rights Council, ‘Draft Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review Myanmar’, 10th sess, UN Doc A/HRC/WG.6/10/L.7 (2 February 2011). 9 Myanmar received recommendations from Albania, Paraguay, Canada, Portugal, Switzerland, Germany, Argentina, Libya, Oman, Malaysia, Egypt, Iceland, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Mexico, Sweden, the Netherlands, Australia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 10 United Nations Human Rights Council, ‘Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review Myanmar’, 31 st sess, UN Doc A/HRC/31/13 (20 November 2015). 11 In relation to Myanmar’s failure to comply with the CRPD in relation to the right to nationality, see the submission to the 22nd Session of the CRPD by ISI and SNAP, July 2019, available at: https://files.institutesi.org/Submission_CRDP_Myanmar_DW_July%202019.pdf. 2