nationality”.90 Human Rights Council Resolutions 2005/45 of 2005, 7/10 of 2008, 10/13 of 2009, 13/2 of 2010, 20/5 of 2012, 26/14 of 2014 and 32/5 of 2016 also reaffirm that the right to nationality is a fundamental human right. The UN Secretary General has accordingly observed that “States must enact laws governing the acquisition, renunciation and loss of nationality in a manner that is consistent with their international obligations, including in the field of human rights.”91 The International Law Commission has emphasised that “[t]he obligation of the States involved in [State] succession to take all appropriate measures in order to prevent the occurrence of statelessness is a corollary of the right of the persons concerned to a nationality” and the “growing awareness among States of the compelling need to fight the plight of statelessness”.92 The strong international consensus on the right to a nationality is further evidenced by regional treaties and instruments containing references to it. These include the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (Article 6), the American Convention on Human Rights (Article 20), the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man (Article 19), the Commonwealth of Independent States Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Article 24), the Covenant on the Rights of the Child in Islam (Article 7), the Arab Charter on Human Rights (Article 29) and the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (Article 18). The European Convention on Nationality does not use the language of “rights” but does set out rules for States Parties to follow concerning acquisition of nationality that are intended to prevent statelessness (Article 6).93 In addition, there are a number of regional declarations that highlight the importance of the right to a nationality and ending statelessness, including the Brazil Declaration and Plan of Action: A Framework for Cooperation and Regional Solidarity to Strengthen the International Protection of Refugees, Displaced and Stateless Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean,94 the Abidjan Declaration of Ministers of ECOWAS Member States on the Eradication of Statelessness,95 the Arab Declaration 90 UNGA Res. 50/152, 9 February 1996, para. 16. See e.g., Advisory Opinion No. 4, Nationality Decrees Issued in Tunis and Morocco [1923] PCIJ Series B, No. 4, p. 24. See also Human Rights Council, Impact of the arbitrary deprivation of nationality on the enjoyment of the rights of children concerned, and existing laws and practices on accessibility for children to acquire nationality, inter alia, of the country in which they are born, if they would otherwise be stateless: Report of the Secretary General, 16 December 2015, A/HRC/31/29, para. 3. 92 International Law Commission, Draft Articles on Nationality of Natural Persons in relation to the Succession of States with commentaries, Yearbook of the International Law Commission, 1999, Vol. II (Part Two), https://www.refworld.org/docid/4512b6dd4.html, p. 27. 93 European Convention on Nationality, 1997 ETS 166, Article 4: “The rules on nationality shall be based on the following principles: (a) everyone has the right to a nationality; (b) statelessness shall be avoided; (c) no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his or her nationality; (d) neither marriage nor the dissolution of a marriage between a national of a State Party and an alien, nor the change of nationality by one of the spouses during marriage, shall automatically affect the nationality of the other spouse.” 94 Brazil Declaration and Plan of Action, 3 December 2014, https://www.refworld.org/docid/5487065b4.html. 95 Abidjan Declaration of Ministers of ECOWAS Member States on Eradication of Statelessness, 25 February 2015, https://www.refworld.org/docid/54f588df4.html. 91 UNHCR > GUIDELINES ON STATELESSNESS NO.5 27

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