CRC concluding observations 2023, paragraph 24
Plain English recommendation
Government should: a) Remove barriers, improve legal routes and make it simpler for all children to get residence status and nationality, including children without regular status, children born in the Overseas Territories and children in care; remove high costs for all children in need; (b) Amend the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 to ensure that the best interests of the child are the main consideration in decisions about removing a person’s nationality; do not use the Act in a way that could make children stateless, or that could remove a person’s citizenship because of anything they allegedly did as a child.
Original UN recommendation
The Committee is deeply concerned that children and their families can be deprived of their nationality without notice under the Nationality and Borders Act of 2022, which also retroactively validated deprivation decisions already made but found unlawful by courts. The Committee urges the State party to: (a) Remove legal and administrative barriers and strengthen legal pathways for all children, including children without a regular residence status, children born in the Overseas Territories and children in care, to acquire residence status and nationality, including by simplifying procedures and waiving high fees for all children in need; (b) Amend the Nationality and Borders Act of 2022 to ensure that the best interests of the child are taken as a primary consideration in all proceedings related to deprivation of nationality, that the act is not applied to any children who would be put at risk of statelessness or would otherwise be stateless, and that citizens are not deprived of their citizenship as a result of actions they allegedly committed as children.
Date of UN examination
18/05/2023
UN article number
7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
Original UN document
Download the original CRC concluding observations 2023 on the UN website