Table 2. List of international treaties (non-exhaustive) with provisions concerning statelessness and corresponding existing rights and obligations Why consider statelessness? Everyone has a right to a nationality (UDHR 15, CNMW preamble ICCPR 23(3)). Every child has the right to acquire a nationality (CRC 7(1)) and preserve that nationality (CRC 8(1)). Human rights are universal (ICCPR 2(1)). Avoiding risk of statelessness Women should have equal right to men to acquire, change, retain nationality (CEDAW 9(1)). Neither marriage nor divorce, nor a change in nationality of a husband, should automatically affect the nationality of the wife (CNMW 1, ICESCR 9(2), CEDAW 9(1)), nor make her stateless (CEDAW 9(1)). No change in status (e.g. through marriage, divorce, adoption, renunciation of citizenship) should make someone stateless (CRS 5, 7) and if someone must lose their citizenship because of the change in citizenship of their spouse or parent, this cannot happen if they would thereby be stateless (CRS 6) Efforts must be made to ensure change in State territory does not lead to statelessness (CRS 10) Women should have equal rights with men to pass nationality to their children (ICESCR 9(3), CEDAW 9(2)) Children should be registered immediately after birth (CRC 7(1)) Ensuring citizenship No one should be arbitrarily deprived of their nationality (UDHR 15, CRS 8, 9) States should facilitate and expedite naturalisation of stateless persons as far as possible (CRSSP 32) States should grant nationality to anyone born in their territories who would otherwise be stateless (CRS 1(1)), to foundlings within that State (CRS 2), and to babies born on ships or aircraft carrying that State’s flag (CRS 3). States should grant nationality to anyone born overseas to at least one citizen parent of that State if the person would otherwise be stateless (CRS 4) Women should have equal rights with men to acquire, change, retain nationality (ICESCR 9(1)) Rights of stateless persons Stateless persons should be protected at least as well as citizens wrt freedom of religion (CRSSP 4), artistic rights and industrial property (CRSSP 14), access to justice (CRSSP 16, ICCPR 26), any rationing (CRSSP 20), elementary education (CRSSP 22(1)), public relief (CRSSP 23), labour protections and social security (CRSSP 24), access to documents, ID papers, civil registration (CRSSP 25, 27, 28), free movement within the territory (CRSSP 26), tax (CRSSP 29(1)). They should be treated as well as well as possible with regard to property (CRSSP 13), association (CRSSP 15), work (CRSSP 17), self-employment (CRSSP 18), professional work (CRSSP 19), housing (CRSSP 21), post-elementary education (CRSSP 22(2)). In all other aspects, stateless persons should have same treatment as other ‘aliens’ (CRSSP 7(1)) Abbreviations and number States Parties 1948 Universal Declaration of Human rights (UDHR) 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (CRSSP) (91) 1957 Convention on the Nationality of Married Women (CNMW) (74) 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (CRS) (73) 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (172) 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) (169) 1979 Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (189) 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (196) 6 of 8