102 COLUM. J. RACE & L. [Vol. 11:83 statelessness: the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (1954 Statelessness Convention) 81 and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (1961 Statelessness Convention).82 Finally, and related to the prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of nationality, scholars point to the general principle of non-discrimination in nationality laws as a constraint on state discretion. Non-discrimination is underpinned by and fundamental to all major human rights instruments. Article 9 of the 1961 Statelessness Convention prohibits the deprivation of nationality on racial, ethnic, religious, or political grounds. Article 9(2) of CEDAW provides, “States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men to acquire, change or retain their nationality.” Article 18(1)(a) of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provides that states parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities “[h]ave the right to acquire and change a nationality and are not deprived of their nationality arbitrarily or on the basis of disability.”83 Importantly for the purposes of this paper, scholars point to Article 5(d)(iii) of ICERD, which provides that depriving any person of their nationality on the basis of race, color, or national or ethnic origin is a breach of a state’s obligations under the Convention.84 Often in tandem with this reference, scholars tend to stress the importance of the prohibition on racial discrimination as a jus cogens norm of international law. It is important to recall that these three areas interface and intersect. For example, deprivation of nationality on the basis of race, color, sex, language, etc. has been considered arbitrary and therefore prohibited under international law. 85 Several academics have also argued that deprivation that results in statelessness is inherently arbitrary. 86 Together, the three 81 1954 Statelessness Convention, supra note 20. 82 1961 Statelessness Convention, supra note 73. 83 CRPD, supra note 76, art. 18(1)(a). 84 Note that “descent”—listed as a prohibited ground of discrimination in Article 1(1)—is missing from Article 5, yet this is unlikely to have any impact given that Article 5 refers to racial discrimination, defined in Article 1 as including discrimination based on descent. 85 See e.g., Hum. Rts. Council, Draft Resolution of Its Twentieth Session, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/20/L.9, at 2 (June 28, 2012). 86 See e.g., RUTH DONNER, THE REGULATION OF NATIONALITY IN INTERNATIONAL LAW 245 (2d ed. 1994) (arguing that arbitrary is defined as “a discriminatory measure, directed against a particular section of the population or as resulting in statelessness”); Johannes M. M. Chan, The Right to a