(e) Consider ratifying the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.20 10. In 2014, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women called on Syria to: (a) Immediately amend its Nationality Law (Decree No. 276/1969), in particular article 3, in order to ensure that women and men enjoy equal rights to acquire, transfer, retain and change their nationality, in line with article 9 of the Convention; and ensure its implementation.21 The Committee also made a further recommendation in relation to stateless Syrian Kurds. However, this recommendation is viewed as being insufficient, including by the co-submitting organisations, as it called solely for the implementation of Decree 49/2011, which excludes Syria’s stateless maktumeen Kurds. This shortcoming was duly noted by the CRC and UNHCR in their submissions before Syria’s 2nd UPR. 22 Syria’s International Obligations 11. Syria has international obligations to protect the right to a nationality and protect the rights of stateless persons on the basis of UN and regional treaties to which it is a party. These include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (see Article 24.3), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) (see Articles 2.2 and 3), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (see Articles 2, 3, 7 and 8), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination (CEDAW) (see Article 2, 9 and 16), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) (see Article 5(d)(iii)), the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) (see Article 18) and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (CMW) (see Article 29). 12. However, Syria has entered a reservation to Article 9(2) of CEDAW “concerning the grant of a woman’s nationality to her children.” This reservation is contrary to the object and purpose of the Convention, as per the CEDAW Committee General Recommendation No.21, which, commenting on Article 9, states that “nationality is critical to full participation in society”.23 The Committee has further stated: “Consistent with articles 2, 3 and 24 in particular, the Committee requires that all 20 Committee on the Rights of the Child, ‘Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of the Syrian Arab Republic,’ CRC/C/SYR/CO/5 (6 March 2019), para. 24. 21 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, ‘Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of the Syrian Arab Republic,’ CEDAW/C/SYR/CO/2 (24 July 2014), para. 38. 22 Human Rights Council, ‘Compilation prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for the Syrian Arab Republic,’ A/HRC/WG.6/26/SYR/2 (29 August 2016), para. 65; UNHCR, ‘Submission by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ Compilation Report Universal Periodic Review: 2nd cycle, 26th session: Syrian Arab Republic,’ (March 2016), available at: https://uprdoc.ohchr.org/uprweb/downloadfile.aspx?filename=3231&file=EnglishTranslation. 23 CEDAW, General Recommendation No. 21: Equality in Marriage and Family Relations, para. 6 (1994), available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/48abd52c0.html. 4