S876 COLUMBIA JOURNAL OF TRANSNATIONAL LAW [56:S855 “Everyone has a right to a nationality.” 131 The travaux préparatoires show that the inclusion of the right was the direct result of the mass displacement of persons in Europe. 132 Acquisition of nationality was seen as wholly remedial to statelessness, a problem then viewed as individuals’ inability to access diplomatic protection 133 and inability to enter or remain in a State at will. 134 As evidenced by the record, 135 as well as by the UDHR’s inclusion of Article 21’s separate “right to take part in the government,” 136 nationality was distinct from enfranchised citizenship. i. Diplomatic Protection As in the interwar period, the most salient promise of nationality in the postwar period was the availability of diplomatic protection. In describing persecutory laws targeting particular ethnic groups, scholars noted that German Jews “were not given diplomatic 131. Comm’n on Human Rights, Hundred and Twenty-Fourth Meeting, U.N. Doc. A/C.3/SR.124 (Nov. 6, 1948). 132. Communications Received Requesting the Inclusion of Certain Specific Provisions in the International Bill of Rights, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/AC.1/6 (June 6, 1947); Comm’n on Human Rights, Analysis of Various Draft International Bills of Rights, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/W.16 (Jan. 23, 1947); Suggestions Submitted by the Representative of France for Articles 7–32 of the International Declaration of Rights, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/AC.1/W.2 (June 16, 1947); Comm’n on Human Rights, First Session: Summary Record of the Ninth Meeting, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/AC.1/SR.9 (July 3, 1947); Comm’n on Human Rights, Second Session: Summary Record of Thirty-Seventh Meeting, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/SR.37 (Dec. 13, 1947). 133. Comm’n on Human Rights, Second Session: Summary Record of Thirty-Seventh Meeting, supra note 132, at 13–14 (proposed text from Belgian Representative DeHousse); Comm’n on Human Rights, Third Session: Comments from Governments on the Draft International Declaration on Human Rights, Draft International Covenant on Human Rights and the Question of Implementation, supra note 129, at 7 (observations from the Netherlands) (“[T]he object of this article [on nationality] is to ensure that every one will have the right to invoke some official protection.”). 134. Comm’n on Human Rights, Second Session: Summary Record of the Fifth Meeting, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/AC.2/SR.5 (Dec. 8, 1947) (statement from French representative Cassin). 135. See, e.g., Comm’n on Human Rights, Ninetieth Meeting, U.N. Doc. A/C.3/SR.90 (Oct. 1, 1948) (statement from South African representative Louw) (“[T]he right to participate in government was not universal; it was conditioned not only by nationality but also by qualifications of franchise.”). 136. G.A. Res. 217 (III) A, Universal Declaration of Human Rights art. 21. (Dec. 10, 1948). The rule against surplusage or principle of effectiveness would suggest that the right to take part in government is, or at least was, considered as distinct from the right to a nationality, which was separately enumerated. Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2954729