Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Bahrain ratified in 2006 states: ‘Every child has the right to acquire a nationality’ and Article 7 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child which Bahrain is a State party to, states: ‘’(1) The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parent. (2) States Parties shall ensure the implementation of these rights in accordance with their national law and their obligations under the relevant international instruments in this field, in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless.’ Bahrain therefore has strong international treaty obligations to ensure that all children born on its territory, regardless of their ethnicity or status or that of their parents or guardians, will acquire Bahraini nationality if they would otherwise be stateless. 9. Additionally, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) states in Article 9 that: (2) States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men with respect to the nationality of their children. Bahrain is a State party to CEDAW. However, it has in place a reservation to Article 9. 9As stated by the CEDAW, Article 9 among others is “central to the object and purpose of the Convention and that the reservations impact negatively on the enjoyment by women of their rights.”10 Therefore, the maintenance of nationality laws which discriminate on the basis of gender are themselves in conflict with the object and purpose of the CEDAW and with the general obligation of all state parties to “agree to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against women.”11 10. In terms of the arbitrary deprivation of nationality, the report of the Secretary-General on ‘Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality’12 discusses the regulation of loss and deprivation of nationality, particularly emphasising that ‘Any interference with the enjoyment of nationality has a significant impact on the enjoyment of rights. Therefore, loss or deprivation of nationality must meet certain conditions in order to comply with international law, in particular the prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of nationality.’13 Bahrain is neither a party to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, nor to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. The Bidoon and Ajam of Bahrain 11. Bahrain, alongside the other countries in the Gulf region, hosts a large number of Bidoons. Bidoons are individuals who have historically lived in the country but, for various reasons,14 (mostly as they missed out on the initial registration of citizens at State formation), have been left 9 United Nations Treaty Collection, https://treaties.un.org/pages/Overview.aspx?path=overview%2foverview%2fpage1_en.xml 10 The CEDAW Committee has noted this on a number of occasions and in Concluding Recommendations for State Parties under review, including in CEDAW/C/ARE/CO/1, para 16. 11 Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (Eighteenth and nineteenth sessions), A/53/38/Rev.1, page 47. 12 OHCHR, Secretary-General ‘Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality’2013 13 13 A detailed report of the impact of deprivation of nationality on the enjoyment of human rights is contained in A/HRC/19/43. 14 For more information on this group see Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, The Worlds Stateless, 2014, access at http://www.institutesi.org/worldsstateless.pdf