Annex I. The Netherlands’ International obligations 1. The Netherlands has ratified nearly all core international and regional human rights treaties, including the ICCPR, CRC, ICESCR, ICERD, CEDAW, CRPD, CED and CAT. Stateless persons benefit from the general application of international human rights standards found in these core treaties, including non-discrimination, an adequate standard of living, and equality before the law. 58 The Netherlands is also party to the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (1954 Convention) and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (1961 Convention). Notably, Article 26 of the 1954 Convention additionally requires States to permit stateless persons “lawfully in” their territory to choose their place of residence and move freely within the State.59 Article 32 of the 1954 Convention stipulates that States Parties should as far as possible facilitate the naturalisation of stateless persons, including by expediting the naturalisation proceedings and reduce as far as possible the costs of such proceedings. 2. The specific right to a nationality and protection of stateless persons is reinforced by a variety of these instruments, including the ICCPR (Article 24), CEDAW (Article 9), and the CRC (Article 7). The Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed its concerns during the 98th session (February 2022) that ‘conditions under which stateless children may apply for Dutch nationality under the present Nationality Act, which among others requires three years of legal residency, are very strict’.60 The Committee recommended the Netherlands to: ‘(a) Ensure that all children born in Aruba and Curaçao, including those with an irregular residence status, have access to birth registration and/or identity cards, and strengthen legal pathways to acquire a nationality. (b) Guarantee all stateless children born or present within the territory of the State party the right to acquire nationality irrespective of residency status. (c) Implement measures for ensuring that children with an “unknown” nationality, a status that leaves them unable to be registered as stateless and obtain international protection, do not remain in such a status for a prolonged period of time. (d) Ensure the access to education, health, and social services for stateless children and children with an “unknown” nationality. (e) Ensure that no child, including those between 16 and 17 years of age, is deprived of his or her nationality for actions that are considered to constitute a threat to national security, and also consider children’s best interests when such withdrawals of nationality are imposed on parents’. The Committee on the Rights of the Child also reiterated its previous recommendations made in 2015, urging the State Party to ‘ensure that all stateless children born in its territory, irrespective of residency status, have access to citizenship without any conditions. In particular, the Committee recommends the Netherlands not to adopt the proposed requirement of parents’ cooperation with the authorities’.61 58 There are a few exceptions under international human rights in which stateless persons are restricted, such as in the right to vote or to be elected to political office. 59 In line with UNHCR observations the drafting history of the 1954 Convention affirms that persons who have applied to remain in a country based on their statelessness are ‘lawfully in’ that country. UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons (30 June 2014, ‘UNHCR Statelessness Handbook’), para 135. Available at http://www.refworld.org/docid/53b676aa4.html. 60 CRC/C/NLD/CO/5-6, para. 18, Concluding observations on the fifth and sixth periodic reports of the Netherlands. 61 CRC/C/NDL/CO/4, para. 33, Concluding observations on the fourth periodic report of the Netherlands. 14