19. Under the CRC, the Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended, in its concluding observations (14 March 2016),9 that Oman amend its national laws to grant Omani women equal rights with Omani men with regard to the transmission of their nationality to their children and that it provide adequate safeguards to ensure the conferral of citizenship on children who would otherwise be stateless. The Committee also recommended that Oman strengthen efforts to ensure that all births in Oman are registered, including, in cooperation with the states concerned, those of children of migrant workers, and that it provide statistics so that this issue can be assessed in the next periodic report. It further recommended that Oman become party to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 20. The CEDAW Committee, in its concluding observations (22 November 2017),10 expressed its concern that Oman’s updated Nationality Law places strict conditions on an Omani mother married to a foreigner who wishes to transmit her nationality to her children, and includes discriminatory provisions with regard to the naturalisation of foreign spouses of Omani women, who are currently required to be married for at least 15 years in order to obtain Omani citizenship, while a foreign wife requires only 10 years of marriage. It was also concerned by the fact that Oman may revoke the citizenship of Omanis if they engage in a group, a party or an organisation that adopts principles or doctrines that can harm its interests. The Committee recommended that Oman amend the Nationality Law to ensure equality between women and men with regard to the acquisition, change and retention of nationality and to enable Omani women to transmit their nationality to their foreign spouses and their children on an equal basis with men. It also recommended that Oman prohibit the revocation of citizenship rights of women and men who exercise their fundamental rights including the right to freedom of expression, assembly and association, with a view to preventing statelessness. It further recommended that Oman consider acceding to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 21. Under the ICERD, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed its concern in a concluding observations report dated 6 June 201611 that the updated Nationality Law (as defined below in paragraph 27) while providing for children born out of wedlock to unidentified parents to be entitled to Omani nationality, only allows Omani women married to non-Omani men to transmit their nationality to their children under strict conditions.12 The Committee was also concerned that, according to the Nationality Law, the State may revoke the citizenship of Omanis if they engage in a group, a party or an organization that adopts principles or doctrines that can harm the interests of Oman13. The Committee recommended that Oman revise the Nationality Law by removing all gender-based discriminatory provisions and ensuring that the Oman government could not revoke citizenship rights of persons who exercise their fundamental rights including the right to freedom of expression, assembly and association, with a view to preventing statelessness. The Committee also recommended that Oman consider acceding to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 22. Oman is not party to the 1954 Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons or the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 9 See: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC/C/OMN/CO/3-4&Lang=En. https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CEDAW/C/OMN/CO/2-3&Lang=En. 11 See: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CERD/C/OMN/CO/2-5&Lang=En. 12 Royal Decree No.38/2014, Article 18 13 Ibid, Article 20(1) and see below for further circumstances in which the government may withdraw Omani nationality 10 See: 4