The first global international instrument that recognised the right to a nationality is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR),2 where article 15 stipulates the following: 1. Everyone has the right to a nationality. 2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality. The Arab Charter on Human Rights (ACHR), ratified by the UAE in 2008, stipulates a similar provision in its article 29. 1. Everyone has the right to a nationality. No one shall be arbitrarily or unlawfully deprived of his nationality. The right to a nationality can also be found in other international instruments such as article 5 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) which the UAE ratified in 1974. Another aspect of the right to nationality is the independent nationality right of women, which is enshrined in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which the UAE ratified in 2004. Article 9 states the following: 1. States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men to acquire, change or retain their nationality. They shall ensure in particular that neither marriage to an alien nor change of nationality by the husband during marriage shall automatically change the nationality of the wife, render her stateless or force upon her the nationality of the husband. 2. States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men with respect to the nationality of their children. Therefore, if a woman’s husband faces deprivation of nationality, states should ensure that she is not subjected to the same fate solely because of her marital status. Additionally, women have the same entitlement as men to transmit their nationality to their children. The UAE, however, made a reservation on this article, asserting that they regard “the acquisition of nationality an internal matter which is governed, and the conditions and controls of which are established, by national legislation […] and does not consider itself bound by the provisions thereof”.3 This demonstrates the reluctance of the country to afford women equal rights to men regarding nationality, and underscores the significance for the state to maintain control over citizenship as a domestic affair. Furthermore, the Covenant on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which the UAE ratified in 1997, also includes the right to nationality in article 8: The UDHR is applicable to the UAE as a matter of customary international law. United Nations Treaty Collection, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV8&chapter=4&clang=_en#EndDec, (accessed on 1 May 2024). 2 3 4 Citizenship stripping in the UAE