Anna Dziedzic and highly regulated schemes in Vanuatu have been criticised as a betrayal to those who fought for independence and the right to hold ni-Vanuatu citizenship.150 4.3 Gender discrimination A third trend over the past three decades is the gradual removal of gender discrimination from the citizenship laws of the states of Oceania. When originally enacted, citizenship laws in Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu discriminated on the basis of sex, gender or marital status in various ways.151 This section outlines the ways in which historic and current laws discriminate and the legal reforms undertaken to remove it. Naturalisation for spouses of citizens: In several states, citizenship laws entitled women married to citizens privileged access to citizenship by naturalisation. A non-citizen married man, however, was not entitled to citizenship by reason of his marriage to a citizen woman. Provisions of this kind are an example of direct discrimination based on sex. As Jalal points out, they also result in indirect discrimination against women, as female citizens married to foreign men usually leave their country because it is difficult for their non-citizen husbands to stay.152 This form of gender discrimination has been removed in all states except Kiribati and Nauru (although in Nauru, while the language of the Constitution continues to be gendered, discrimination has been removed from the citizenship legislation). Citizenship of children: In Fiji, Kiribati and Tonga, the citizenship of children born overseas was transferred from the father. If a woman married to a non-citizen gave birth overseas, her child would not automatically have her citizenship. Only if a mother was unmarried would her child take her citizenship. In Tonga, it was also the case that if a male Tongan ceased to be a citizen, his children under the age of 16 would also automatically lose their citizenship. In Fiji, Kiribati and Vanuatu, citizenship laws provided that in the case of joint adoption, a child automatically acquired the citizenship of his or her father. These forms of discrimination have been removed in all states except Kiribati. In Kiribati and Tuvalu it is also the case that a person born in Kiribati will not become a citizen at birth if his or her father (or mother if his or her parents are unmarried) is a foreign diplomat or citizen of a country with which Kiribati is at war.153 Right to regain citizenship: Laws in Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu permitted a woman who had lost her citizenship upon marriage to a foreign citizen to regain it upon the end of the marriage, but had no equivalent provision for men. Kiribati is the only state that still has this kind of provision. Application for citizenship: Finally, in Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, laws provided that a man applying for citizenship could include his wife and children on his application, but had no equivalent provision for a woman to include her husband and children on her application. Kiribati is the only state to retain this provision. 150 Treanor and Nunis (n 148). P Imrana Jalal, Law for Pacific Women: A Legal Rights Handbook (Fiji Women’s Rights Movement 1998) 34–39; Ombudsman of Vanuatu, ‘Report on the Illegal and Unconstitutional Discrimination in the Citizenship Act’ (1999). 152 Jalal (n 151) 36. 153 Constitution of Kiribati 1979 s 25(1); Constitution of Tuvalu 1986 s 45(2). 151 28 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-Comp 2020/1- © 2020 Author