International Journal of Refugee Law, 2026, Vol. 00, Issue 00 • 11 while the African Court on Human and People’s Rights agrees that the UDHR, including article 15, forms part of customary international law.92 Summing up the position in international law, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) has expressed the view that, although: If the argument that the right to a nationality has achieved the status of customary international law is accepted, it would seem that, irrespective of its treaty obligations, the UAE is obligated to provide a nationality to the bidun population. As the next section demonstrates, this obligation is particularly pronounced in situations of statelessness and in situations involving the discriminatory and arbitrary deprivation of nationality. 3.2.1. Obligations in respect of the grant or deprivation of nationality in situations of statelessness As stressed by the ACERWC, the strength of the claim to the right to nationality is heightened in situations of statelessness. Under article 8(1) of the 1961 Convention, the deprivation of nationality is generally prohibited if doing so would leave that person stateless.94 ‘Deprivation’ includes the withdrawal or the automatic loss of nationality, as well as the denial of access to nationality by the State.95 As the IACHR has explained, this means that ‘states have the obligation not to adopt practices or laws concerning the granting of nationality, the application of which fosters an increase in the number of stateless persons’.96 The next section develops the argument that the grant of Comorian passports to the bidun did not actually amount to the grant of nationality. If this argument is accepted, the UAE would be in violation of the customary international law obligation to address, and not to worsen, the situation of statelessness in its territory. In addition to emphasizing the importance of addressing statelessness, a variety of treaties underline the importance of facilitating the naturalization of those who are stateless and/or who are habitually resident on the territory. Article 32 of the 1954 Convention urges States to, as far as possible, facilitate the naturalization of stateless people in their territory. Article 6(3) of the European Convention on Nationality requires state parties to ‘provide in its internal law for the possibility of naturalisation of persons lawfully and habitually resident on its territory’. This Convention clarifies that for those who are lawfully and habitually resident on the State’s territory (article 6(4)(e) and (f)), including stateless people (article 6(4)(g)), it is the State’s own nationality that should be provided (‘Each State Party shall facilitate in its internal law the acquisition of its nationality’ for the Anudo Ochieng Anudo v United Republic of Tanzania (African Court on Human and People’s Rights, Application No. 012/ 2015, 22 March 2018), [76]. 93 IHRDA and Open Society Justice Initiative on behalf of children of Nubian descent in Kenya v. Kenya (n 85) [48]. 94 This is subject to some limited exceptions, set out in art 8(3). 95 Mark Manly and Laura van Waas, ‘The Value of the Human Security Framework in Addressing Statelessness’ in Alice Edwards and Carla Ferstman (eds), Human Security and Non-Citizens: Law, Policy and International Affairs (CUP 2010) 49, 63–64. 96 Case of the Yean and Bosico Children v Dominican Republic (Inter-American Court of Human Rights) [142]. 92 Downloaded from academic.oup.com/ijrl/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ijrl/eeag028/8767365 by guest on 08 October 2026 States set the rules for acquisition, change and loss of nationality as part of their sovereign power…state discretion must be and is indeed limited by international human rights law standards…as well as customary international law and general principles of law that protect individuals against arbitrary state actions. In particular, states are limited in their discretion to grant nationality by their obligations to guarantee equal protection and to prevent, avoid, and reduce statelessness.93