24. UNHCR has stated that the requirement that a child must be lawfully resident in Denmark in order to be eligible to acquire nationality is incompatible with Article 1(2)(b) of the 1961 Convention.36 25. Article 7(1) CRC enshrines the right of every child to acquire a nationality, a right that is ‘essential for the protection of every child’. 37 Obligations deriving from the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness require States to grant nationality to children who would otherwise be stateless and must be interpreted in light of the CRC.38 This includes the underlying principles of (i) non-discrimination (Article 2 CRC) and (ii) that all actions concerning children, including in the area of nationality, must be undertaken with the best interests of the child as a primary consideration (Article 3 CRC). 26. The CRC applies to all persons below the age of 18. Insofar as the requirement of lawful residence effectively imposes on stateless children a need to wait until they are 18 years old to acquire a nationality, such requirement will constitute a breach of the child’s right to a nationality as protected by Article 7 of the CRC. Moreover, it follows from Articles 3 and 7 of the CRC that the child’s statelessness should be determined and resolved immediately after birth or as soon as possible thereafter. 39 According to the 1961 Convention, this period is not to exceed five years immediately preceding an application nor ten years in all. However, UNHCR has noted that these periods are lengthy in light of the standards established under the CRC, therefore the period required for a child to be habitually resident in a country in order to apply for nationality should be as short as possible.40 27. It should also be noted that Danish law and practice prohibits children who would otherwise be stateless from acquiring a nationality because their parents failed to renew their children’s resident permits. This discrimination is prohibited under Article 2 CRC, which requires State Parties to respect and ensure the rights set forth in the Convention irrespective of the child’s or their parent’s status. It also fails to uphold the best interests of the child as a primary consideration (Article 3), the child’s right to acquire a nationality (Article 7), and the right to preserve his or her identity, including nationality (Article 8). 28. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has made several recommendations for State parties to ensure that all stateless children born on their territory have access to nationality without any conditions and irrespective of their residence status, 41 and recalled that the outcome of an application for nationality, legal residence or similar status by the parents of a child born on the territory should not prejudice the right of the child to acquire the nationality of the State party where the child would otherwise be stateless.42 36 Submission on Denmark 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, 24th Session. 37 UNHCR (2018), Ensuring the right of all children to acquire a nationality: Connecting the Dots between the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, available at https://www.refworld.org/docid/52206aa54.html 38 UNHCR (2012), Guidelines on Statelessness No. 4: Ensuring Every Child’s Right to Acquire a Nationality through Articles 1-4 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/50d460c72.html 39 ibid, para. 11. 40 ibid, para. 11, 36, 40-43. 41 CRC/C/NLD/CO/4, Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding observations on the fourth periodic report of the Netherlands, 16 July 2015, paras. 32-33. 42 CRC/C/CZE/CO/3-4, Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding observations on the combined third and fourth periodic report on Czech Republic, 4 August 2011, paras 37-38. 7