International Journal of Refugee Law, 2026, Vol. 00, Issue 00 • 9 recognizing that ‘States are not obliged to grant their nationality to every child born in their territory’,74 the Committee has also stressed that States: The Committee goes on to call on States to ‘strengthen measures to grant nationality to children born in their territory in situations where they would otherwise be stateless’.76 Here, the Committee specifies that what is required is the ‘conferral of nationality’—not the indefinite formulation ‘a nationality’—suggesting it is the grant of the territorial State’s nationality that is the key measure states are required to take in circumstances where a child born in their territory would otherwise be stateless. Although the Committee refers to measures taken in cooperation with other States, raising the possibility that the UAE could argue its arrangement with the Comoros was compliant with this directive, it is reasonable to assume the reference to international cooperation was in contemplation of the kind of measures required in the case of AM v Switzerland,77 and not the attempted outsourcing of nationality from another country. The obligation of States to grant nationality to stateless children born in their territory is repeated in other instruments. For example, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966 (ICCPR)78 states in article 24(3) that ‘[e]very child has the right to acquire a nationality’. In 2021, the Human Rights Committee found that the failure of a State Party to provide their nationality to a stateless child born in its territory amounted to a violation of this right.79 Regional human rights instruments also specify that the obligation does indeed relate to the State’s own nationality. The American Convention on Human Rights 1969 (ACHR) proclaims that ‘[e]very person has the right to the nationality of the state in whose territory he was born if he does not have the right to any other nationality’.80 The European Convention on Nationality 1997 requires each State Party to provide for ‘its nationality to be acquired by children born on its territory who do not acquire at birth another nationality’.81 Although the UAE is not bound by these treaties, this understanding of this obligation as relating to the States’ own nationality should guide the interpretation Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and Committee on the Rights of the Child, ‘Joint General Comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State Obligations Regarding the Human Rights of Children in the Context of International Migration in Countries of Origin, Transit, Destination and Return’ UN Doc CMW/C/GC/4-CRC/C/GC/23 (16 November 2017) [24]. 75 ibid. 76 ibid [26]. 77 In other words, liaising with the State of deportation (here, Bulgaria) in assessing the risks that would be faced by the applicant if they were to be returned to that country: Committee on the Rights of the Child (n 69) [10.9]. 78 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (opened for signature 19 December 1966, entered into force 23 March 1976) 999 UNTS 171 (ICCPR) 79 DZ v the Netherlands Communication No 2918/2016 (20 January 2021) UN Doc CCPR/C/130/ D/2918/2016, [8.5]-[9]. 80 American Convention on Human Rights (opened for signature 22 November 1969, entered into force 18 July 1978), art 20(2) (emphasis added). 81 European Convention on Nationality (opened for signature 6 November 1997, entered into force 1 March 2000) ETS 166, art 6(2) (emphasis added). 74 Downloaded from academic.oup.com/ijrl/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ijrl/eeag028/8767365 by guest on 08 October 2026 are required to adopt every appropriate measure, both internally and in cooperation with other States, to ensure that every child has a nationality when he or she is born. A key measure is the conferral of nationality to a child born on the territory of the State, at birth or as early as possible after birth, if the child would otherwise be stateless.75