stateless parents or if the parents cannot pass on their nationality to their children, the child is also born stateless. Under Swiss nationality law, a stateless child can only acquire Swiss citizenship by means of a ‘simplified’ naturalisation if he or she has five years of legal residence, one year of which must be immediately before the application for naturalisation is made.66 The requirements for a simplified naturalisation are reduced, but the authorities maintain a certain discretion when deciding whether the child is integrated, respects the Swiss legal order and does not pose a threat to Switzerland’s internal or external security.67 The legal residence requirement is contrary to Switzerland’s international obligations and can have the result that children born stateless in Switzerland are not able to acquire Swiss nationality, simply because their parents are irregular migrants.68 The possibility of simplified naturalisation does not require that the child is born in Switzerland, however, it expires once the stateless child turns eighteen. Since the entry into force of the simplified naturalisation procedure in 2006, ten stateless children have been naturalised.69 Foundlings acquire Swiss nationality automatically.70 27. The acquisition of Swiss citizenship by naturalisation can be declared null if it was acquired fraudulently, even if this results in statelessness.71 Under the current Citizenship Act the nullification of naturalisation can be extended to all family members, including children, who acquired Swiss citizenship on the same basis.72 While the SEM has in the last years refrained from extending the nullification to children if it would result in statelessness, there has been no explicit legal basis for this practice.73 The co-submitting organisations note that the new Swiss Citizenship Act entering into force on 1 January 2018 will improve the situation by explicitly prohibiting the inclusion of children in a decision to nullify the naturalisation of their parents if they would otherwise become stateless.74 28. The current Swiss practice with regard to the right of children to a nationality is at variance with its obligations under international law. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has pointed out that the relevant legislation in Switzerland ‘contains insufficient or no safeguards against childhood statelessness, in breach of regional and international obligations’.75 In its most recent review of Switzerland, the Committee on the Rights of the Child held as follows: ‘the Committee is concerned that children born in the State party, who would otherwise be stateless, are not guaranteed a right to acquire Swiss nationality … The Committee also recommends that the State party ensure that all children born in its territory acquire Swiss nationality irrespective of the legal status of their parents, if they would otherwise be stateless.’ 76 66 Article 30 in conjunction with Article 36(1) Federal Act on the Acquisition and Loss of Swiss Citizenship of 29 September 1952 (SCA; SR 141.0). 67 The general requirements for a facilitated naturalization are enshrined in Article 26 SCA and have to be fulfilled in case of a simplified naturalization for stateless children. 68 CtteeRC, Concluding observations on the combined second to fourth periodic reports of Switzerland, 26 February 2015, CRC/C/CHE/CO/2-4, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/566e80214.html, para 31. 69 Statement by the Federal Council to interpellation Fridez (note 10). 70 Article 6 SCA. 71 Article 41 SCA. 72 Article 41(3) SCA. 73 State Secretariat for Migration, Manuel Nationalité, Chapitre 6: Annulation de la naturalisation, available at: https://www.sem.admin.ch/dam/data/sem/rechtsgrundlagen/weisungen/buergerrecht/hb-bueg-kap6-f.pdf. See also judgment by the Federal Administrative Court in case C-5957/2009 of 24 July 2012. 74 Article 37(4)(b) Federal Act on Swiss Citizenship of 20 June 2014 (AS 2016 2561), entry into force on 1 January 2018. 75 See also PACE, Resolution 2099 (2016) (note 51), para 8. 76 CtteeRC, Concluding observations (note 68), paras 30 and 31. 10