The Report of Lebanon to the Committee 5. Lebanon’s combined 4th – 5th periodic report does provide an overview of its performance in relation to its Article 7 CRC obligations in paragraph 63-71, in relation to the challenges it faces and efforts it has made with regard to the registration of births and ensuring nationality for children born in the country. Accordingly, the Institute notes positively, the efforts taken to increase birth registration to 99.6%. However, it must be noted that the most vulnerable and marginalised are the most likely to not have their births registered, which in turn undermines their access to nationality. For example, there are approximately 40,000 individuals who are maktoum11 in the country, those who were not registered. It is not clear how many of these are children, but this status is inherited by children. 6. The state report in paragraph 65 sets out that a one year deadline for registration is important to ensure that parents understand the importance of registration. While the Institute acknowledges that it is important to educate parents on the importance of birth registration, it is of paramount importance that children are not penalised for the oversights of their parents. Therefore, a careful balance needs to be struck between prescribing a time-limit and ensuring that all children have their right to birth registration and a nationality respected. 7. The report also recognises in paragraph 68 that the influx of refugees from Syria has added to the complexity scale of the challenge of ensuring every child’s birth is registered and nationality confirmed. While the state has raised these challenges in the report, it does not set out how it intends to address them to ensure the realisation of every child’s right to birth registration and to a nationality, as prescribed by Article 7. 8. The report also refers in paragraph 71 to a case going through the courts that was made in 2009 that would allow Lebanese women to transfer nationality to their children if their foreign husband dies. They state that no decision is yet to be made on this issue. 9. Finally, the periodic report is silent on childhood statelessness in Lebanon, despite its widespread prevalence in the country (see below). CRC Article 7 obliges states to safeguard against childhood statelessness and to ensure that every child has the right to acquire a nationality. Furthermore, childhood statelessness has a detrimental impact in terms of the child’s access to a range of other rights under the CRC. In this context, the state party’s silence in relation to childhood statelessness in the country is disappointing. The state report does not explain whether Lebanon has taken any steps to implement the recommendations provided in the previous review on birth registration and equal nationality rights. 10. In light of the above information, the Committee is urged to ask Lebanon in its List of Issues and also in its review, to further elaborate on its periodic report as follows: a. On what basis does the state justify the one year deadline for birth registrations, and what steps has the state taken to ensure that children whose births are not registered within one year are not denied the right to birth registration or a nationality? 11 Maktoumeen means those who are not registered anywhere in Lebanese records, and are therefore either at risk of statelessness or stateless.