CChapter 3: Comparative analysis of nationality laws
the family. The only exception is Libya where, if the
child is born outside the country to a Libyan father,
a registration procedure must be completed before
Libyan nationality is conferred.101
Rules incorporating maternal jus sanguinis are less
commonplace in the MENA. Although the picture
has been changing rapidly over the past decade,
currently, still less than half of the countries in the
region offer children an unconditional right to acquire
their mother’s nationality. Gender discrimination
in nationality laws thus remains a significant issue in
the region.102 Only Algerian, Egyptian, Moroccan
and Tunisian nationality laws clearly provide for the
transmission of nationality from mother to child on
the same terms as from father to child (i.e. automatic
and regardless of the child’s place of birth). In Yemen,
an amendment fully recognising the maternal jus
sanguinis was passed in 2010, but only entered
into force following published in the state’s Official
Gazette in mid-2013 and it is unclear to what extent
it has been implemented to date. Iraq and Libya
similarly provide for maternal jus sanguinis, but there
is an internal inconsistency in their laws due to the
101 - Article 3(c), Law No. 24 on the Libyan Nationality, 2010.
102 To compare the MENA region to the rest of the world, see
UNHCR, Background Note on Gender Equality, Nationality Laws and Statelessness
2014, 8 March 2014, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/532075964.
html.
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