Introduction 1. The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (Institute)1, Rights Realization Centre (RRC), and the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights2 welcome the opportunity to make this submission to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance (hereinafter SR Racism), in light of her official country mission to Qatar from rom 24 November to 1 December 2019. 2. This joint submission addresses three main issues: Discrimination against women in nationality legislation, the protracted statelessness experienced by certain groups in the country, and the arbitrary deprivation of nationality of Qatari citizens. These issues create and/or prolong statelessness, while also negatively impacting a range of other human rights. 3. This submission is a summary of the joint submission by the co-submitters to Qatar’s Universal Periodic Review from October 2018, and highlights the most pressing issues related to the SR Racism’s mandate.3 Qatar’s International Obligations 4. The co-submitters welcome Qatar’s accession to both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in May 2018, which include a number of provisions relevant to statelessness. Specifically, Article 24(3) ICCPR protects the right for every child to acquire a nationality.4 Qatar is also bound by a number of international human rights instruments which stipulate the right to a nationality.5 5. In recent years, a number of UN Treaty Bodies have addressed nationality issues in Qatar, including the Committee on the Rights of the Child (2017), the Committee against Torture (2018), and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (2019). The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination also noted its concern in 2019 by reported cases of citizens being deprived of citizenship in the State party, which may lead to a risk of statelessness. It recommended “that the State party take measures to protect against statelessness [and] that the State party ratify the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness”. It also made a recommendation on gender discrimination in nationality law. 6 1 For more information about the Institute, please consult its website: http://www.institutesi.org For more information about the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, please consult its website: https://www.equalnationalityrights.org/ 3 The full submission is available here: https://files.institutesi.org/UPR33_Qatar.pdf. 4 See the 4 September 2018 statement, HH The Amir Issues Three Decrees, accessible at: https://www.diwan.gov.qa/briefingroom/news/general/lg/2018/040918/lg08?sc_lang=en. 5 The state is not party to either the 1954 or the 1961 UN Statelessness Conventions. However, Qatar is bound by a number of international human rights instruments which stipulate the right to a nationality, including the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination (ICERD). Under Article 5 (d) (iii), States are obliged to guarantee the right of everyone the right to nationality, without discrimination as to the grounds set out in the Convention. The right to a nationality is also protected under Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Article 9 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and Article 18 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Article 15 of the UDHR states that “everyone has the right to a nationality” and “no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality”, all of which Qatar is bound by. 6 CRC/C/QAT/CO/3-4; CAT/C/QAT/CO/3; CEDAW/C/QAT/CO/2; CERD/C/QAT/CO/17-21. A full overview of the relevant recommendations is attached as an annex to this submission. 2 1