ISI Database on Statelessness and
Human Rights

7. Recalling its previous recommendations, general recommendation No. 8 (1990) concerning the interpretation and application of article 1 (1) and (4) of the Convention, and the Committee’s guidelines for reporting under the Convention,5 the Committee recommends that the State Party collect and provide to the Committee comprehensive and disaggregated statistics on the demographic composition of the population, particularly on ethnicity, while respecting the principle of self-identification, together with statistics on the socioeconomic situation of ethnic minority groups, including Roma communities, and of Indigenous Peoples, internally displaced persons and non-citizens, such as stateless persons, undocumented migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers, and on their access to education, employment, healthcare and housing, with a view to creating an empirical basis for assessing and monitoring the equal enjoyment of the rights enshrined in the Convention.

22. Reiterating its previous recommendations, and recalling its general recommendation No. 27 (2000) on discrimination against Roma, the Committee urges the State Party: (...)

(f) To adopt measures to register undocumented members of Roma communities and facilitate the process for issuing identity and birth registration documents;

31. The Committee takes note of information that the ongoing war and the full-scale military attack by the Russian Federation against Ukraine in February 2022 resulted in high numbers of internally displaced persons in the State Party fleeing regions affected by the armed conflict, including members of ethnic minority groups, in particular Roma communities, and Indigenous Peoples. The Committee takes note of the measures taken by the State Party to evacuate the affected population from conflict-affected areas and to support internally displaced communities. Nevertheless, the Committee is concerned about reports that women, children, older persons and persons with disabilities who experience multiple and intersecting discrimination based on age, gender, language spoken, ethnicity, national origin and disability, in particular those who have lost their identity documents or who are stateless, face obstacles in accessing basic services, such as housing and social benefits.

32. Reiterating its previous recommendations, the Committee urges the State Party strengthen its efforts in supporting internally displaced communities by incorporating ethnic and gender perspectives and taking into account factors such as age, gender, language spoken, ethnicity, national origin and disability in all mitigation measures and strategies to protect internally displaced persons and to ensure their access to basic services, including adequate housing and social benefits. It also recommends that the State Party adopt measures to facilitate the registration of internally displaced persons and to assist such persons in obtaining official documentation.

35. The Committee welcomes the establishment, in 2020, of a procedure for determining statelessness, in accordance with the provisions of Law No. 693-IX. However, the Committee is concerned: (...)

(a) About the lack of statistics on stateless persons and their socioeconomic situation;

(b) About the reported increase in statelessness owing to the ongoing war, and the high number of internally displaced persons who lost their identity documents in the occupied territories, particularly following the full-scale military attack in February 2022;

(...)

(d) About the amendment to the legislative framework, set out in Law No. 2952-IX on amendments to various laws related to the protection of the State border, which granted the State Migration Service the State Border Guard Service and the Security Service discretionary powers to forcibly deport stateless persons without the necessity of a judicial order;

(e) That applications submitted before February 2022 under the procedure for determining statelessness by individuals linked to the Russian Federation are reportedly rejected owing to discrimination on the ground of the ethnic or national origin of the applicant, and that the suspension of diplomatic relations between the State Party and the Russian Federation has hindered the consideration of applications;

(f) That draft law No. 11469 on amendments to various laws of Ukraine on ensuring the right to acquire and preserve Ukrainian nationality, which is under consideration by the parliament, would enable authorities to revoke citizenship on the basis of acquisition of the citizenship of an “aggressor State”, increasing the risk of statelessness for residents of the occupied territories who acquired Russian citizenship under duress from the occupying authorities or to access basic services, including healthcare services and social benefits, as well as employment; (...)

(h) That draft law No. 11469 would halt the granting of nationality to children born to asylum-seekers (arts. 2 and 5).

36. Recalling its general recommendation No. 30 (2004) on discrimination against non-citizens, the Committee recommends that the State Party strengthen its efforts to reduce and prevent statelessness. In particular, it recommends that the State Party:

(a) Develop and implement mitigation measures to address and combat statelessness that results from the full-scale military attack against the State Party and the war, particularly among internally displaced persons from the occupied territories who have lost their identity documents;

(b) Allocate adequate human, financial and technical resources to ensure that the procedure for determining statelessness functions effectively in order to resolve the high number of remaining statelessness cases;

(c) Conduct a human rights-based assessment of the legislative framework on statelessness, in particular Law No. 2952-IX, and of the procedure for determining statelessness, and adopt the measures necessary to ensure the compliance of the framework and procedure with international human rights principles and the objectives and purposes of the Convention, in particular with regard to ensuring effective judicial oversight, respecting the principle of non-refoulement and preventing racial discrimination on the ground of ethnic or national origin;

(d) Review draft Law No. 11469, which is currently before the parliament, and ensure that it is in line with international standards and conventions on preventing and combating statelessness, with a view to avoiding statelessness among children born to asylum-seekers and residents of the occupied territories who acquired Russian citizenship from the occupying authorities under duress or in order to access basic services;

(e) Ensure that birth registration documents are issued, and nationality granted, to children born on the State Party’s territory to parents who are asylum-seekers, stateless persons or undocumented migrants.

26. The Committee recalls its previous concluding observations and urges the State party to:

(a) Amend the Nationality Act and the Law on Permanent Residency to allow Qatari women married to noncitizens to transmit without discrimination their nationality to their children from birth, in particular for those children who would otherwise be stateless;

(b) Ensure that children born to unmarried parents receive a birth certificate and other identity documents and that children born to non-Qatari are not deported or separated from their mothers;

(c) Resolve the stateless status of members of the Al-Ghufran clan, particularly children, by providing a clear path to Qatari citizenship and access to education and healthcare;

(d) Consider ratifying the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons of 1954 and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness of 1961;

(e) Seek technical assistance from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) among others, for the implementation of these recommendations.

35. Recalling its general comment No. 9 (2006) on the rights of children with disabilities, the Committee recalls its previous concluding observations 16 and recommends the State party adopt a human rights-based approach to disability, set up a comprehensive strategy for the inclusion of children with disabilities and:

(b) Enable all children with disabilities living in the State party, including children with disabilities who do not possess Qatari nationality and those who are stateless, to claim and have access to their rights without discrimination, in accordance with the human rights-based approach to disability, and protect them from all forms of disability-based discrimination;

47. Recalling the joint general comments No. 3 and No. 4 of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families/No. 22 and No. 23 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (2017) on the human rights of children in the context of international migration and its General Comment No. 6 (2005) on treatment of unaccompanied and separated children outside their country of origin, the Committee recommends that the State party:

(f) Consider ratifying the 1951 Convention relating to the Statues of Refugees, the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

6. Recalling its general recommendation No. 8 (1990) concerning the interpretation and application of article 1 (1) and (4) of the Convention, and its guidelines for reporting under the Convention, the Committee recommends that the State Party collect and provide to the Committee reliable, updated and comprehensive statistics on the demographic composition of the population, based on the principle of self-identification, including on ethnic and ethno-religious groups, people of African descent, stateless persons and non-citizens, in particular migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees. It also recommends that the State Party produce statistics disaggregated by gender and age on the socioeconomic situation of those groups and on their access to education, employment, healthcare and housing, with a view to creating an empirical basis for assessing the equal enjoyment of the rights enshrined in the Convention.

39. Recalling its previous recommendation,12 the Committee regrets that children born to parents of foreign origin are not systematically registered, as legislation prohibits registration in the national birth registration system and parents may be unable to register the birth of their children with the embassies of their countries of origin, for a variety of reasons. While welcoming the State Party’s willingness to introduce universal birth registration, the Committee is concerned that, despite the submission of relevant bills to the National Assembly, legislation on universal birth registration has still not been adopted (arts 1, 2 and 5).

40. The Committee recommends that the State Party expedite the adoption of a law on universal birth registration, ensuring that all children born in the territory of the State Party are registered, regardless of their nationality and residence status.

42. The Committee recommends that the State Party review its laws and policies applicable to long-term residency status and naturalization, in order to:

(a) Facilitate access to long-term residency status and naturalization for non-citizens who have lawfully resided in the State Party for an extended period. In this context, the State Party should simplify procedures and consider harmonizing the current visa system;

(b) Provide children and youth born to migrant parents in an irregular situation with financially sustainable pathways to securing residency status or naturalization.

43. Noting a number of situations that can lead to statelessness in the State Party, including the situation of escapees from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea who are not granted citizenship and non-national children born in the Republic of Korea whose births are not registered, the Committee is concerned by the lack of laws or procedures relating to the recognition and treatment of stateless persons. The Committee is concerned that this shortcoming may lead to heightened vulnerability of stateless persons due to their lack of legal status, documents and/or identity, including the risk of being subjected to immigration detention and deportation (arts. 2 and 5).

44. The Committee recommends that the State Party adopt effective measures to reduce and prevent statelessness and adopt a comprehensive law that defines the status and treatment of stateless persons, incorporating the provisions of the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. The State Party should consider acceding to the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

47. (...) The Committee recommends that the State Party ratify the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 

6. The Committee notes the State Party’s position that keeping statistics disaggregated by ethnicity goes against national unity. It also notes the statistics provided by the State Party’s delegation, including data on nationality, religion and language from the 2022 census. However, the Committee remains concerned about the absence of comprehensive statistics on the ethnic composition of the population, in particular regarding Creoles, Chagossians, and people of African descent, as well as non-citizens, such as migrants and stateless persons. The Committee reiterates that this lack of statistics hinders a comprehensive assessment of the situation of groups most exposed to racial discrimination, including their socioeconomic status and the impact of any targeted policies or  programmes. The Committee is further concerned about the absence of statistics on the ethnic composition of the prison population.

7. Recalling its previous recommendations and its general recommendations No. 4 (1973) concerning reporting by States Parties under article 1 of the Convention and No. 24 (1999) concerning article 1 of the Convention, the Committee urges the State Party:

(a) To develop and implement, in consultation with civil society, robust data-collection tools to produce reliable, updated and comprehensive statistics on the demographic composition of the population, based on the principle of self-identification, and disaggregated by nationality, ethnicity, age, sex, religion, language, region and other relevant factors;

(b) To compile disaggregated statistics on the socioeconomic situation of ethnic groups including Creoles, Chagossians, people of African descent, and non-citizens, focusing on their enjoyment of the rights to work, social security, housing, food, water and sanitation, health, and education, to provide an empirical basis for assessing the equal enjoyment of the rights enshrined in the Convention;

9. Recalling its general recommendations No. 22 (1996) on refugees and displaced persons in the context of article 5 of the Convention and No. 30 (2004) on discrimination against non-citizens, the Committee recommends that the State Party:

(a) Adopt comprehensive legal and policy frameworks to ensure the protection of the rights of migrants, refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless persons, in line with international human rights standards; (...)

(c) Establish effective procedures for identifying and protecting persons at risk of statelessness and preventing statelessness, and collect and publish disaggregated data on stateless persons and those at risk of statelessness;

(d) Consider acceding to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its Protocol, the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

6. Recalling its general recommendation No. 8 (1990) concerning the interpretation and application of article 1 (1) and (4) of the Convention, and its guidelines for reporting under the Convention,3 the Committee recommends that the State Party collect and provide to the Committee reliable, updated and comprehensive statistics on the demographic composition of the population, based on the principle of self-identification, including on ethnic minority groups and non-citizens, such as documented and undocumented migrants, refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless persons. It also recommends that the State Party produce disaggregated statistics on the socioeconomic situation of ethnic minority groups and of non-citizens and on their access to education, employment, healthcare and housing, with a view to creating an empirical basis for assessing the equal enjoyment of the rights enshrined in the Convention.

28. Recalling its previous recommendations 12 and its general recommendation No. 27 (2000) on discrimination against Roma, the Committee recommends that the State Party: (...)

(c) Strengthen its efforts to ensure that all members of the Mugat community are granted national identity documents; (...)

37. The Committee welcomes the measures taken in 2019 to identify and resolve the identified stateless cases, the adoption of an amendment to the Law on Civil Acts to guarantee the birth registration of every child born on the State Party’s territory, and the establishment in 2025 of a procedure for determining statelessness. However, the Committee is concerned about: (...)

(b) The draft law that amends provisions of the Law on Citizenship, approved by the parliament and pending the signature of the President, that allows for the arbitrary revocation of citizenship under vague concepts, including for individuals who acquired citizenship through naturalization and engage in activities that pose a threat to national security or engage in military activities, and restricts the granting of citizenship only to children born in the State Party’s territory to non-citizen parents of Kyrgyz ethnic origin;

(c) Obstacles in the birth registration of children born to asylum-seekers, undocumented migrants and stateless parents, including members of the Mugat ethnic minority group, owing to complex documentation requirements pursuant to article 13 of the Law on Civil Acts, and reports that parents avoid birth registration in order to evade penalties, which also leads to discrimination in accessing education and healthcare (art. 5).

38. The Committee recommends that the State Party:

(a) Develop a data collection system on statelessness to ensure the collection and publication of statistics concerning stateless persons and their economic and social situation;

(b) Refrain from adopting the draft law to amend provisions of the Law on Citizenship, which is pending the signature of the President, and review it to ensure that it is in line with international standards and to avoid statelessness of children born in the territory of the State Party and arbitrary deprivation of citizenship;

(c) Take effective measures to address the administrative shortcomings of the civil registry system and the complex procedures and requirements for birth registration of children born to asylum-seekers, undocumented migrants and stateless parents;

(d) Ratify the Convention relating to the 1954 Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

34. In the light of its general recommendation No. 30 (2004) on discrimination against non-citizens, the Committee recommends that the State Party establish a national mechanism on statelessness with a clear legal framework and mandate that enable it to function effectively. It also recommends that the State Party adopt a national action plan to reduce and prevent statelessness, including measures to identify and protect stateless migrants and stateless persons arriving in the context of mixed movements of people, and allocate sufficient resources to ensure its effective implementation. It further recommends that the State Party accelerate the process of accession to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

22. (...) The Committee also recommends that the State Party:

(b) Strengthen the Citizenship and Social Protection Programme and measures to facilitate access by members of Indigenous Peoples and ethnic minorities and non-citizens to civil status documents, including in relation to birth registration, particularly in rural and remote areas, by raising awareness among these groups of the importance of registration and ensuring that all provisions relating to the issuance of identity documents are applied in a non-discriminatory manner, prioritizing disadvantaged groups;

25. While taking note of the information provided by the State Party concerning the naturalization of the Gabonese Hausa, the Committee is concerned about reports of a rise in hate speech against Gabonese citizens of foreign origin and the Gabonese Hausa and of discriminatory treatment in some cases, including reports that such persons’ passports have been withheld by migration authorities on their return from travel, that they have been able to reclaim them only by presenting documents proving Gabonese nationality and that they have experienced difficulties obtaining passports and other identity documents. Furthermore, it notes with concern that implementation of the policy of “Gabonization” of jobs may in fact lead to discriminatory practices against Gabonese citizens of foreign origin, based on national origin, race, colour or religion (art. 5).

26. The Committee recommends that the State Party take the necessary measures to prevent, eradicate and punish hate speech against Gabonese citizens of foreign origin and the Gabonese Hausa and discriminatory treatment of them, including by the migration authorities. It also recommends that it ensure that implementation of the policy of “Gabonization” of jobs does not result in hiring or firing practices that discriminate against Gabonese citizens of foreign origin.

140.254 Strengthen measures to reduce statelessness and ensure the protection of stateless persons.

34.338 Adopt the measures necessary to prevent and reduce statelessness and ensure adequate protection of the rights of stateless persons.

37. The Committee recommends that the State Party, in line with its obligations under the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness:

(a) Guarantee the right of persons applying for stateless status to reside in Luxembourg during the application process and automatically recognize this right upon the granting of stateless status;

(b) Incorporate into national legislation the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees standards on the registration of refugees, stateless persons and asylum seekers and compile gender-disaggregated data on stateless women and girls and asylum-seeking women and girls.

35. The Committee recommends that the State Party consider a general reduction of the required period of residence for obtaining citizenship and ensure that women and girls without citizenship can fully enjoy their rights under the Convention in the State Party.