2022 Statelessness & Citizenship Review 4(1) He recommended that, therefore, ‘[t]he conference should attempt to steer a middle course by drafting a convention which would secure many ratifications and at the same time represent an appreciable improvement in the lot of stateless persons’.13 In other words, like all international treaties, the final version would be the result of compromise. What were the sticking points? On the one hand, many state representatives proclaimed the importance of nationality. For example, Mr Sivan (Israel) ‘believed that practical, moral and psychological importance attached to nationality not only in the case of adults but also in that of children and young people’.14 The Argentinian representative, Mr Carasales, proclaimed it was ‘of paramount importance that a child should have a nationality at birth’. 15 The Canadian representative, Mr Jay, ‘expressed the hope that [the principle of state sovereignty] would not be given undue prominence’. 16 Yet, there were tensions between those states that favoured jus soli (citizenship by birth) and those that favoured jus sanguinis (citizenship by descent). 17 The issue of deprivation of citizenship on security grounds also proved so contentious as to necessitate a second conference, which explains why it took until 1961 to settle on the final text of the Convention.18 Ultimately, the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (not Elimination) was adopted and opened for signature on 30 August 1961. In accordance with art 18, the 1961 Convention did not enter into force until it received its sixth accession on 13 December 1975. To date, the treaty has attracted 78 ratifications.19 This number is relatively modest in light of the importance of the treaty, yet, as Melanie Khanna and Marcella Rouweler note,20 the treaty has, in recent years, enjoyed renewed momentum with a significant increase in ratification. OVERVIEW OF THE 1961 CONVENTION The 1961 Convention is one of the earliest human rights treaties of the modern era. Yet, it remains essential in the quest to reduce and eliminate statelessness; of course, this quest continues with millions of people stateless today and new cases of statelessness arising.21 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 ibid. UN Conference on the Elimination or Reduction of Future Statelessness, Summary Record of the Fourth Plenary Meeting, UN Doc A/CONF.9/SR.4 (24 April 1961) 2. ibid 3. UN Conference on the Elimination or Reduction of Future Statelessness, Summary Record of the Third Plenary Meeting, UN Doc A/CONF.9/SR.3 (24 April 1961) 5. See, eg, ibid 2–10; UN Doc A/CONF.9/SR.4 (n 14) 2–8; UN Conference on the Elimination or Reduction of Future Statelessness, Summary Record of the Sixth Plenary Meeting, UN Doc A/CONF.9/SR.6 (24 April 1961) 2–7. UN Conference on the Elimination or Reduction of Future Statelessness, Summary Record of the Fifteenth Plenary Meeting, UN Doc A/CONF.9/C.1SR.15 (11 October 1961) 2–3. ‘4. Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness’, United Nations Treaty Collection (Web Page) <https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=V4&chapter=5&clang=_en>. Melanie Khanna and Marcella Rouweler, ‘Taking Stock of the Relevance and Impact of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness’ (2022) 4(1) Statelessness & Citizenship Review 194. See UNHCR, Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2020 (Report, 18 June 2021) 50 <https://www.unhcr.org/60b638e37/unhcr-global-trends-2020>. 190