Rising Statelessness Due to Disappearing Island States 2 Human Rights Treaties (ICCPR and ICESCR) 159 There are several international human rights treaties that would provide protection to stateless persons, where they are applicable. 160 The ICCPR and the ICESCR — the most prominent human rights treaties on the universal level — incorporate a wide set of basic human rights, some of which have already been illustrated above in the context of the 1954 Convention. Substantively, the ICCPR grants civil and political rights, whereas the ICESCR incorporates economic, social and cultural rights. Out of all rights, art 24 ICCPR should be specifically mentioned here, as it provides for a right to nationality for every child. Article 24 ICCPR, however, which accordingly only guarantees the right of children to acquire a nationality born in the territory of a state, will add little to help displaced islanders who will have to migrate to other states. In cases where their children are born stateless on the host state’s territory, art 24(3) ICCPR might indeed prove valuable. The ICCPR and the ICESCR are both widely ratified instruments, including in the Asia-Pacific region. 161 While the ‘advances of international human rights law which obligates all states to protect human rights regardless of the status of the holder’ 162 should not be undermined, it is however always pertinent to question how human rights can be actually enforced vis-à-vis a state, in particular the host state. As eluded to above in Part III, the possibility of exercising diplomatic protection on behalf of stateless people as provided for in the ILC Articles on Diplomatic Protection has so far not been accepted by state practice. But even if that were the case, the ILC Articles on Diplomatic Protection themselves also grant that right only to the resident state which, arguably, will be the most likely to violate the displaced islander’s human rights on its territory. Under these circumstances, the possibility of enforcement remains alarmingly limited. Even if states recognise continuing statehood and islanders do not lose their nationalities, it remains uncertain whether island states would be able to guarantee human rights effectively while having their governments act in exile on foreign territory. Moreover, whether individuals may rely on treaty mechanisms in the context of their human rights, such as the Human Rights Committee, is contingent on acceptance by the respective state. This again is limited in the affected region, which would most probably serve as host states for displaced island populations. Thus, it must be noted that the status of ratification of several ‘optional protocols’, 159 Please note that the CERD (n 61) and the CEDAW (n 151) will not be specifically mentioned under the human rights treaties section. They might also apply to stateless persons; however, their statelessness does not arise due to discriminatory state action or laws. However, both conventions may provide redress with regard to discriminatory treatments in future host states. 160 Not only the ICCPR (n 41) and ICESCR (n 50), but also the CERD (n 61), CEDAW (n 151) (as already mentioned above), the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, opened for signature 10 December 1984, 1465 UNTS 85 (entered into force 26 June 1987) (‘CAT’), the CRC (n 151); the ICRMW (n 151), the International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, opened for signature 20 December 2006, 2716 UNTS 3 (entered into force 23 December 2010) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, opened for signature 13 December 2006, 2515 UNTS 3 (entered into force 03 May 2008) are international human rights instruments which, if applicable, might protect stateless persons from human rights violations in future host states. 161 See accordingly the status of ratification of the ICCPR (n 41) and the ICESCR (n 50) at the official website of Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, ‘Status of Ratification’ <http://indicators.ohchr.org/> (‘Status of Ratification’). 162 Amal de Chickera and Laura van Waas, ‘Unpacking Statelessness’ in Tendayi Bloom, Katherine Tonkiss and Phillip Cole (eds), Understanding Statelessness (Routledge 2017) 59. 63