2022 Statelessness & Citizenship Review 4(1) by armed conflicts experience social disruption by being displaced and are often separated from their family, have limited access to education and healthcare and are exposed to violence and exploitation.13 Armed conflicts are proven to have serious long-term effects on the physical, mental, developmental and behavioural health of children.14 Additionally, stateless children risk arbitrary and lengthy immigration detention, are limited in their freedom of movement and struggle to access medical treatment, as some states do not even provide vaccinations to stateless children.15 Furthermore, stateless children are often excluded from social welfare leading to marginalisation and impoverishment.16 According to Save the Children, an estimated 27,500 foreign children, 90% of whom are under 12 years old, are waiting for repatriation from Syria as of February 2021.17 UNICEF’s evaluation of the foreign children in Syria reveals that almost 70% of those children are from Iraq and the remaining 30% are from around 60 other countries.18 As of March 2022, Save the Children still reports that about 18,000 Iraqi children and 7,300 children from other countries are trapped in North East Syrian camps.19 These numbers demonstrate that there are possibly thousands of children currently at risk of being forgotten in Syrian camps and falling victim to human rights abuses. The Egmont Institute estimates that between 610 and 680 European children were being detained in Syria and Iraq as of October 2020.20 It should be noted though that keeping track of the number of foreign children being born in the conflict zones is ‘virtually impossible’.21 Hence, this article will examine how the deprivation of citizenship of FTFs risks creating stateless children; this will be addressed in Part III. Furthermore, it will explore how this practice might contradict international human rights law and how its 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 See Part III(B). See, eg, Jo Boyden et al, ‘Children Affected by Armed Conflict in South Asia: A Review of Trends and Issues Identified through Secondary Research’ (Discussion Paper, UNICEF Regional Office South Asia, February 2002) 36–58 <https://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/files/files-1/dp-children-armed-conflict-south-asia.pdf>. Sherry Shenoda et al, ‘The Effects of Armed Conflict on Children’ (2018) 142(6) Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics 1. Human Rights Council, Impact of the Arbitrary Deprivation of Nationality on the Enjoyment of the Rights of Children Concerned, and Existing Laws and Practices on Accessibility for Children to Acquire Nationality, Inter Alia, of the Country in Which They Are Born, if They Otherwise Would Be Stateless: Report of the Secretary-General, UN Doc A/HRC/31/29 (16 December 2015) 11 [35], 12 [37], 13–14 [41]. ibid 12–13 [38]–[39]. ‘Repatriation of Foreign Children in Syria Slowed by COVID-19, as New Footage Emerges of Life in Camps’, Save the Children (online, 1 February 2021) <https://www.savethechildren.net/ news/repatriation-foreign-children-syria-slowed-covid-19-new-footage-emerges-life-camps>. ‘Protect the Rights of Children of Foreign Fighters Stranded in Syria and Iraq: Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore’, UNICEF (Web Page, 21 May 2019) <https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/protect-rights-children-foreign-fighters-strandedsyria-and-iraq>. Save the Children, ‘Speed up Repatriations or Foreign Children Could Be Stuck in North East Syria Camps for up to 30 Years, Warns Save the Children’ (Press Release, 23 March 2022) <https://www.savethechildren.net/news/speed-repatriations-or-foreign-children-could-bestuck-north-east-syria-camps-30-years-warns>. Thomas Renard and Risk Coolsaet, ‘From Bad to Worse: The Fate of European Foreign Fighters and Families Detained in Syria, One Year After the Turkish Offensive’ (Security Policy Brief No 130, Egmont Royal Institute for International Relations, October 2020) 5 <https://www.egmontinstitute.be/content/uploads/2020/10/SPB130_final.pdf?type=pdf>. European Parliamentary Research Service, The Return of Foreign Fighters to EU Soil: ExPost Evaluation (Report, May 2018) 34 <https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ STUD/2018/621811/EPRS_STU(2018)621811_EN.pdf>. 36