Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). 17. Many of these treaties guarantee the right to a nationality for all on a non-discriminatory basis. These include Article 24 of the ICCPR, Articles 7 and 8 of the CRC, Article 9 of the CEDAW, and Article 5 of the CERD.27 Of particular significance is Article 7 of the CRC, which enshrines every child’s right to be registered immediately after a birth and to acquire a nationality and protects all children from statelessness. Similarly, the CERD sets out in relation to the right to nationality that: ‘’States Parties undertake to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law’’. 18. Despite the RoC accepting recommendations under the previous UPR cycle to accede to the two statelessness conventions, and claiming that “the ratification process of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons is at the final stages, awaiting approval by Parliament, ” it is still not a party to the 1954 Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 19. At the regional level, the RoC is party to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECPHR, 1950), the 1952 Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the 1963 Protocol No. 4 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the 2000 Protocol No. 12 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFREU, 2007). It is not a party to the 2000 European Convention on Nationality. 20. Although the RoC has committed itself to upholding the rights of people living in their territory, they exclude ‘approximately 160.000-170.000 settlers28 transferred from Turkey in order to alter the demographic structure of Cyprus […]’.29 In practice, this means that anyone living in North Cyprus who has Turkish ethnicity (either through a Turkish parent and/or grandparent) is excluded from enjoying certain human rights, such as the right to acquire RoC nationality from the RoC parent, and the right to freedom of movement.30 In addition, RoC nationals who live in 27 Acceded to 25 May 1983. 28 For the Republic of Cyprus authorities, anyone who is Turkish and who moved to north Cyprus after 1974 is considered a settler. 29 As stated in Cyprus OHCHR common core documents forming part of the reports of States Parties (HRI/CORE/CYP), which are submitted by the Republic of Cyprus. These numbers change over time, throughout the different versions of the core document; it concerned 109.000 settlers in 1993; 118.000 in 2007; 150.000-160.000 in 2009; 160.000-170.000 in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2017. Research shows that in fact, although Turkey did offer/motivate many Turkish nationals to move to north Cyprus between 1974-1979, this practice has since ceased. In fact, these days Turkish people sometimes move to north Cyprus hoping to find work and better living circumstances for their families. They are regular migrants as are migrants from other countries to north Cyprus. In contrast to the 1974-79 migrants who received “TRNC nationality” upon arrival in Cyprus, recent Turkish migrants generally have a very hard time acquiring “TRNC nationality”. See Hopman et al. (forthcoming); Hatay, M. (2017) Population and Politics in north Cyprus: An overview of the ethno-demography of north Cyprus in the light of the 2011 census. Oslo: Peace Research Institute Oslo. 30 In addition to “settlers”, “Turkish occupation forces” are also excluded. The estimated sizes of both groups change over time, in the different versions of the Core Documents. See: HRI/CORE/1/Add.28/Rev.1, para. 8; HRI/CORE/CYP/2007, para. 16 (118,000 settlers, 35,000 Turkish troops); HRI/CORE/CYP/2009, para. 17 (150.000-160.000 settlers, 35.000 Turkish troops); HRI/CORE/CYP/2011, para. 17 (160.000-170.000 settlers, 40.000 Turkish troops); HRI/CORE/CYP/2012 (160.000170.000 settlers, 40.000 Turkish troops); HRI/CORE/CYP/2014, para. 23 (160.000-170.000 settlers, 40.000 Turkish troops).

Select target paragraph3