Nationality and Cases of Statelessness in the Middle East and North Africa below, the general naturalisation criteria of MENA states are compared, before also exploring the circumstances in which access to naturalisation is facilitated – i.e. for which groups are the conditions lowered or the procedures simplified? Subsequent paragraphs also look at the particularities of MENA states’ policies towards the naturalisation of persons of Palestinian origin and towards the attribution of political rights following naturalisation. As is the case throughout this chapter, the commentary provided is especially mindful of the question of how these provisions interact with the problem of statelessness, in this case how particular naturalisation criteria may contribute to the resolution or the entrenchment of statelessness. 3.2.1. General naturalisation criteria While MENA nationality laws share a similar overall approach to naturalisation and many common criteria, there is a wide divergence in the details of the naturalisation requirements set. The primary connection between an individual and the state which lays the foundation for naturalisation is a territorial one, established through long-term residence within the country’s borders. All MENA states prescribe a minimum period of residence as one of the conditions for eligibility for naturalisation. 98