support and services, including psychological support and legal assistance”.59 In its
Concluding Observations on the Syrian Arab Republic, the CRC Committee “deeply
regretted” the cases of trafficking and sale of children.60
c. UN Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women
30. Article 6 CEDAW specifically requires States parties to take all appropriate measures
to suppress all forms of trafficking in women and girls.61 CEDAW General
Recommendation No. 38 on trafficking in women and girls in the context of global
migration elaborates on the Article 6 obligations and duties towards victims. The
Committee makes clear that combating trafficking requires states to engage with the
larger protection framework stemming from, inter alia, international humanitarian
law, criminal law, and the Conventions against statelessness.62 The Committee
recommends that States parties establish national guidelines to govern the
identification, referral and support of victims carried out by multidisciplinary teams
including social services, healthcare providers and specialised support organisations.
The Committee further recommends that women and girls who are victims of
trafficking must not, without exception, be subject to arrest, detention, prosecution or
penalties for unlawful acts committed as a direct consequence of their situation as
victims of trafficking.63
31. In its most recent Concluding Observations on the eighth periodic report of the United
Kingdom, the Committee expressed concern that a significant number of victims of
trafficking and modern forms of slavery remain unidentified. It noted shortcomings
in the national referral mechanism and the inadequacy of support provided to victims,
and called on the UK to continue to improve the national referral mechanism to ensure
that victims of trafficking are properly identified and protected.64
III. Limits to citizenship deprivation to prevent statelessness
32. While there is not an explicit right to a nationality in the ECHR, the Court has
reiterated that nationality is an important element of a person’s identity.65 It has found
that measures affecting a person’s nationality may fall within the ambit of the
Convention, including that the arbitrary deprivation of nationality may interfere with
Article 8.66
33. In deprivation of nationality cases, the Court has assessed: i) the consequences for the
individual concerned, to establish if there has been an interference with Article 8, and
(ii) whether the measure was arbitrary, which may lead to a violation of Article 8(2).67
59
CRC Committee, Concluding observations on the combined sixth and seventh periodic reports of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 2023, CRC/C/GBR/CO/6-7, § 52.
60
CRC Committee, Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of the Syrian Arab Republic,
2019, CRC/C/SYR/CO/5, § 54.
61
The United Kingdom ratified the CEDAW Convention on 7th April 1986. See the UN Treaty Body
Database, ratification status by country, UK; CEDAW, 34/180 of 18 December 1979, Article 6.
62
CEDAW, General Recommendation No. 38 on trafficking in women and girls in the context of global
migration, (2020), § 13.
63
ibid., §§ 38, 77-78, 98.
64
CEDAW, Concluding observations on the 8th periodic report of the United Kingdom (2019), §3334(c).
65
See Ghoumid and Others v. France, nos. 52273/16 and 4 others, § 43, 25 June 2020. See also Article
15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
66
Ramadan v. Malta, no. 76136/12, §§ 84-85; Usmanov v. Russia, no. 43936, § 53, 22 December 2020;
Council of Europe, European Court of Human Rights, “Article 8 – Nationality”, ECHR-KS.
67
See, e.g., Usmanov v. Russia, op. cit., § 58; El Aroud and B.S. v. Belgium, nos. 25491/18 and 27629/18,
5 December 2024.
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