purpose; and (iii) deprivation is an effective means of achieving the stated legitimate purpose.40 A central question is the extent to which deprivation impairs the individual’s ability to exercise and enjoy other human rights.41 Deprivation directly engages Article 4 in this regard, by impeding the ability of the State to remedy and fulfil its obligations and duties due to the individual being rendered stateless and prohibited from entering the State. Further, other trafficking victims in similar circumstances have retained their citizenship, have been repatriated and have accessed various victim-centred support as required under Article 4.42 Obligation to consider other Convention rights prior to deprivation 42. The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism has emphasised that deprivation powers must never violate peremptory or non-derogable norms, nor may they impair the essence of any human right, including the right to enter and remain in one’s own country, the prohibition against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and the rights of the child.43 This establishes an overarching limit on the scope of permissible State action. All of these rights also intersect with a trafficking victim’s Article 4 rights and are therefore juridically relevant. 43. Right to enter and remain in one’s own country: This right is not only as affirmed in the Human Rights Committee’s General Comment No. 27 and further articulated by Article 8 of the International Law Commission Draft Articles on the Expulsion of Aliens, but is a precondition for the State’s discharge of the obligation to protect and facilitate the recovery of a trafficking victim under Article 4 of the Convention.44 44. Freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment: States have a duty to assess whether citizenship deprivation would lead to a real risk of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment given its grave consequences and the absolute nature of Article 3 of the Convention. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants has stated that, “substandard detention conditions may potentially amount to inhuman or degrading treatment.”45 This also relates to the right to liberty and security of person under Article 5. Failure to conduct a proper assessment of the consequences of a citizenship deprivation decision on the individual’s Articles 3 and 5 rights, may perpetuate indefinite and arbitrary detention, and violate the right to freedom from torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 45. Rights of the child: Particular weight must be given to the situation of children, with their best interests being a primary consideration.46 The Convention on the Rights of the Child prevents States from penalising individuals for circumstances arising in childhood, particularly those beyond their control, such as being a victim of trafficking.47 States must take all appropriate measures to promote the recovery and reintegration of child victims in a healthy environment.48 The Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General Comment No. 24 also clarifies that children recruited by non-State armed groups and charged in counter-terrorism contexts may become victims of multiple violations and should be treated primarily as victims of violations of 40 HRC General Comment No. 27 on Art. 12 ICCPR; UNHCR Guidelines No. 5 (2020), para. 94 ff; Human Rights and Arbitrary Deprivation of Nationality: Report of the Secretary General, A/HRC/25/28, para. 40; Tunis Conclusions (2013), paras 19 – 20. 41 UNHCR Guidelines No 5 (2020), para. 94; In assessing the impact on the individual, consideration must be given to the strength of the link of the person with the State in question, including birth in the territory, length of residence, family ties, economic activity as well as linguistic and cultural integration. 42 See, e.g., All-Party Parliamentary Group on Trafficked Britons in Syria, Report of the Inquiry by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Trafficked Britons in Syria (2022), p. 30, 48 – 49; Reprieve, British Woman and Her Child Repatriated from North East Syrian Camp, 13 October 2022; Madeline-Sophie Abbas, British children associated with ISIS in camps in North-East Syria: counter-terrorism, security and children’s rights concerns in repatriation decision-making, 3 December 2024; Rights and Security International, Global Repatriations Tracker. 43 UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms while Countering Terrorism, Martin Scheinin: ten areas of best practices in countering terrorism, 22 December 2010, A/HRC/16/51; See also Glion Recommendations 2019, p. 9-10. 44 Human Rights Committee General Comment No. 27 on Art. 12 ICCPR: a State Party must not, by stripping a person of nationality or by expelling an individual to a third country, arbitrarily prevent this person from returning to his or her own country; Article 8 ILC Draft Articles on the Expulsion of Aliens: a State shall not make its national an alien, by deprivation of nationality, for the sole purpose of expelling him or her. 45 UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of migrants, François Crépeau, A/HRC/20/24 (2012), para. 26. 46 Article 3(1) CRC; ILEC Guidelines (2015), sections II.5 and II.6. 47 Article 2(2) CRC. 48 Article 39 CRC; see also UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 6 (2005). 8