2020 Statelessness & Citizenship Review 2(2) the following sections, we will look at where the Committee stands regarding each of these obligations in relation to the right to a nationality. DEPRIVATION OF NATIONALITY The most aggressive violation of the right to nationality is its deprivation; when a person once had a particular citizenship that has since been unlawfully taken away. Such violations can include both individual as well as collective denationalisation of a particular group, often for purely discriminatory reasons. 39 In the worst cases, this can be done by directly stripping nationality solely because of the race or ethnicity a person belongs to and could be one step in a pattern of stigmatisation, xenophobia and displacement. For example, the scenario we have seen unfold in, among others, Myanmar. 40 The Committee has already clarified that deprivation of citizenship on discriminatory grounds is a breach of ICERD. 41 It recognises that ethnic differences are often exploited for political gain and that citizenship can and has been used for political purposes and nationalism, leading to detrimental effects upon those whose nationality has been deprived. 42 Looking at international human rights law more widely, the UDHR states that ‘no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality’, and the CRC obliges states to ‘undertake to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identify, including nationality’. 43 ‘Arbitrary’, under international law, does not necessarily equal ‘against the law’, but ‘constitutes broadly to include elements of inappropriateness, injustice, lack of predictability and due process of law’. 44 Furthermore, the 1961 Convention stipulates that states ‘may not deprive any person or group of persons of their nationality on racial, ethnic, religious or political grounds’ or, more generally, ‘if such deprivation would render him stateless’. 45 The 1961 Convention does allow for revocation of nationality in a number of rare circumstances, such as ‘where the nationality has been obtained by misrepresentation or fraud’ under its art 8(2)(b) or if the person’s behaviour has been ‘inconsistent with his duty of loyalty to the [state]’ under art 8(3). 46 However, the use of revocation of citizenship for reasons related to national security should be seen as a narrow exception to the prohibition of deprivation of nationality and is subject to high standards of international law, including non-discrimination and a general prohibition of statelessness. Moreover, it has been recognised that 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 Institute of Statelessness and Inclusion (n 1) 25. ibid 32–35. GR 30, UN Doc CERD/C/64/Misc.11/Rev.3 (n 13) [14]. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, General Recommendation 15: Organized Violence Based on Ethnic Origin (Art 4), UN Doc A/48/18 (23 March 1993). UDHR (n 7) art 15; CRC (n 7) art 8. On the notion of ‘arbitrariness’, see, eg, United Nations Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, UN Doc A/HRC/22/44 (24 December 2012) [61]. For arbitrary deprivation of citizenship specifically, see United Nations Human Rights Council, Human Rights and Arbitrary Deprivation of Nationality: Report of the Secretary General, UN A/HRC/25/28 (19 December 2013) [4]. 1961 Convention (n 6) arts 8(1), 9. ibid arts 3, 5, 7(4), 8(2b). 228