States parties gradually progress to a stage where, by its resolute discouragement of notions of the inequality of women in the home, each country will withdraw its reservation, in particular to articles 9, 15 and 16 of the Convention.”24 The inaction by the government to remove gender discriminatory provisions from the nationality laws also violates the state’s general obligation to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women, under Article 2 of CEDAW. 13. Syria was a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), before its membership was suspended due to crimes committed by the government. The Covenant on the Rights of the Child in Islam is one of the binding documents of the OIC and Articles 2(4) and 7 clearly guarantee every child’s right to a nationality. There is a need for Syria to adhere to these provisions. Moreover, Syria is a party to the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (see Articles 5 and 19). 14. Syria has not acceded to either the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons or the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, nor has it pledged to do so. National Law 15. Syria’s current nationality law was promulgated by legislative decree No. 276 on 24 November 1969 (1969 Nationality Act).25 The 1969 Nationality Act prescribes the acquisition and withdrawal of citizenship, and contains various gaps and flaws that lead to statelessness, including discrimination against Syrian women in transferring their nationality to their children (see the section on Gender Discrimination below). It remains in force today, despite attempts to amend it.26 16. Syrian law lacks a definition of a stateless person, and accordingly, there are no specific procedures, laws or protection mechanisms tailored to the protection of the rights of stateless individuals, other than for Palestinian refugees in Syria. Palestinian refugees of Syria are considered as a special case of non-Syrians in this respect, as legislation guarantees rights largely on a par with Syrian citizens.27 However, following the outbreak of the war in 2011, and resultant mass displacement, Palestinians have suffered from a wide range of rights violations and protection concerns, falling between the respective mandates of UN organisations (see the section on Palestinians below). 17. Syria’s 1969 Nationality Act contains some safeguards against statelessness at birth in which a child born in Syria to stateless parents, or a child born in Syria who does not 24 CEDAW, General Recommendation No. 21: Equality in Marriage and Family Relations, para. 43 (1994), available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/48abd52c0.html. 25 Nationality Law, Legislative Decree 276, 1969, available at: https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/4d81e7b12.pdf. 26 European Network on Statelessness and Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, “Statelessness in Syria,” August 2019, available at: https://statelessjourneys.org/wp-content/uploads/StatelessJourneys-Syria-August2019.pdf. 27 See Law No. 260 of 1956. However, Palestinian refugees in Syria could not stand in elections or run for an office of state and also faced some restrictions on owning property. 5