5. 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 comprehensive and disaggregated statistics on the demographic composition of the population, particularly on ethnicity, while respecting the principle of self-identification in the 2024 population census, together with statistics on the socioeconomic situation of ethnic and ethno-religious minority groups, including Roma, and of people of African descent, internally displaced persons, stateless persons and non-citizens, such as refugees and migrants, and on their access to education, employment, health care and housing, with a view to creating an empirical basis for assessing and monitoring the equal enjoyment of the rights enshrined in the Convention.
32. While noting the information provided on the draft amendments to the Iraqi Nationality Act (Act No. 26 of 2006), the Committee notes with concern that these amendments were not adopted, and that no other measures have been taken to simplify the reinstatement of Iraqi citizenship to Feyli Kurds. It is concerned that Feyli Kurds still face administrative obstacles to the reinstatement of their citizenship owing to burdensome requirements for applicants. The Committee is also concerned about the lack of a policy to combat statelessness (arts. 2 and 5).
33. Reiterating its previous recommendations, the Committee recommends that the State party take effective measures, including by amending the legislative framework on nationality, to facilitate the process of reinstating Iraqi citizenship to Feyli Kurds and removing all administrative obstacles throughout the process. It also recommends that the State party adopt and implement a policy to combat statelessness.
34. The Committee is concerned about:
(a) Reports that members of ethnic and ethno-religious minority groups,
particularly non-Muslims, are reluctant to obtain unified national identity documents or birth certificates for their children as they are arbitrarily registered as Muslims in the civil registry system, which leads to discrimination and stigmatization by their communities, the risk of statelessness and discrimination in the enjoyment of the rights protected under the Convention; (...)
(c) The lack of measures taken to address the discriminatory practice of, in the absence of paternity documents, automatically registering children born of rape to Yazidi women who were held captive by Da’esh and children born to non-Muslim mothers and undocumented or deceased fathers as Muslims, leading to stigmatization and rejection by their communities and the risk of statelessness; (...)
35. The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Review its legislative framework on civil registration to address the
arbitrary and automatic registration of members of ethnic and ethno-religious minority groups as Muslims, including in the case of children born to non-Muslim mothers where the father is unknown or uninvolved in the life of the child, in particular children born of rape to Yazidi women who were held captive by Da’esh;
(b) Take effective measures to address the administrative shortcomings of the civil registry system and complex procedures and requirements to prevent statelessness, while taking into account the situation of members of ethnic and ethno-religious minority groups, including Roma, and internally displaced persons who have lost their documents or lack them;
(c) Establish a dedicated and effective determination procedure in relation to statelessness.
42. (...) The Committee encourages the State party to accede to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the Protocol thereto, the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.