CYIL vol. 15 (2024)

CYIL 15 ȍ2024Ȏ THE ISSUE OF COMPARISON OF STATELESS PERSON WITH STATELESS SHIP … statelessness, to set the rules, the conferral, and non-withdrawal of citizenship to prevent cases of statelessness from arising. The provision on protection of stateless persons is included also in the 1970 Additional protocol I 19 to the Geneva Conventions, which in Article 73 stipulates the rules treating persons who were, prior to the beginning of hostilities, stateless or refugees. These persons must be protected within the means of Parts I and III of the Fourth Geneva Convection in all the circumstances and without any adverse distinction. Two conventions on protection of rights of women in regard to their nationality have been adopted. First, the 1957 Convention on the Nationality of Married Women, 20 in which Article 3 stipulates the right of the alien wife at her own request to acquire the nationality of her husband though specially privileged naturalisation procedures. Second, the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 21 which stipulates in Article 9 that women are granted equal rights with men, in regard to acquiring, changing, or retaining their nationality. States must ensure that: [N]either marriage to an alien nor change of nationality by the husband during marriage shall automatically change the nationality of the wife, render her stateless or force upon her the nationality of the husband. States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men with respect to the nationality of their children. The right to a nationality is also recognised in the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 22 (Article 5(d)(iii.), the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child 23 (Articles 7 and 8), the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families 24 (Article 29), and the 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 25 (Article 18). 2. Most common causes of statelessness At the end of 2022, the UNHCR, counted 4.4 million stateless persons worldwide. It was however estimated that the actual number might be over 10 million due to the lack of reporting. Based on the UNHCR finding, statelessness occurs for multiple reasons and the most common cases are as follows: the child is not registered after birth and no birth certificate is issued; the child is born to stateless parents and the domestic law does not 19 Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), 8 June 1977. Official Records of the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law applicable in Armed Conflicts, Bern, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, 1978. 20 Convention on the Nationality of Married Women, 20 February 1957, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 309, p. 65. 21 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 18 December 1979, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1249, p. 13. 22 International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, 21 December 1965, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 660, p. 212. 23 Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, United Nations, Treaty Series , vol. 1577, p. 3. 24 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, 18 December 1990, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2220, p. 3. 25 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 13 December 2006, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2515, p. 3.

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