{"id":1117710,"date":"2023-06-26T14:20:23","date_gmt":"2023-06-26T14:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.adhrb.org\/?p=27100"},"modified":"2023-06-26T14:20:23","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T14:20:23","slug":"dispatch-on-the-citizenship-law-for-women-in-bahrain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2023\/06\/26\/dispatch-on-the-citizenship-law-for-women-in-bahrain\/","title":{"rendered":"Dispatch on the Citizenship Law for Women in Bahrain"},"content":{"rendered":"
Gender discrimination against women\u2019s right to transfer Bahraini citizenship to children \u2013 a freedom that is reserved for male citizens<\/em><\/p>\n Constitutional provisions on gender equality and laws guaranteeing equal rights to confer citizenship are crucial for ensuring women\u2019s legal equality, but gaps remain in many countries. According to the UN Women Report of 2022 on the Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals<\/a>, it may take up to 286 years to secure such overarching legal frameworks worldwide.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, the right to a nationality is a fundamental human right enshrined in Article 15 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights<\/a>: \u201cEveryone has the right to a nationality. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality\u201d.<\/em> It is also directly related to the rights of children, with Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)<\/a>, <\/em>and Article 24 of the <\/a>International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)<\/a> ensuring that \u201cevery child has the right to acquire a nationality<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>However, with increased attention to women\u2019s rights and the objectives of gender equality, gender-based discrimination within nationality legislation has become a matter of concern in many countries worldwide. Although since the adoption in 1979 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)<\/a>, most countries have changed their legislation and practices to ensure gender equality, in 2022, 25 countries would still not have attained this equality in the granting of nationality<\/a>. Of these, 12 are located in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), including Bahrain, categorized in orange according to the 2022 Annual Background Note on Gender Equality, Nationality Laws, and Statelessness<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bahrain\u2019s nationality law, the Nationality Act of 1963<\/a>, only allows Bahraini mothers to confer their nationality to their children born in the country or abroad if the fathers are unknown or have no documents to establish filiation. In other words, if a child is born to a foreign father and a mother with Bahraini citizenship, she cannot pass on Bahraini nationality. In contrast, men can pass citizenship to their children automatically. Therefore, such discrimination against women, enshrined in law, contributes, along with other inequalities, to the Global Gender Gap Index of 63%<\/a> in Bahrain, according to UN Women.<\/p>\n Consequently, while states retain the right to shape the content of their nationality laws, according to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness<\/a>,<\/u> \u201cthey must do so in accordance with international standards on nationality, including the principle that statelessness should be avoided<\/em>,\u201d as well as with respect for gender equality and women\u2019s rights. The following legal analysis thus aims to demonstrate that Bahrain has not established the necessary safeguards within its citizenship law to be per international human rights standards.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Firstly, from a gender equality perspective, Article 18 of Bahrain\u2019s Constitution of 2002<\/a> ensures that \u201cpeople are equal in human dignity, and citizens are equal before the law in public rights and duties; there shall be no discrimination among them on the basis of sex, origin, language, religion, or creed<\/em>.\u201d Bahrain has also promoted gender equality<\/a> in its national and international commitments to the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals<\/a>.<\/p>\n Secondly, the Bahraini Citizenship Act of 1963<\/a>,<\/u> including its amendments, regulates the acquisition, loss, and restoration of Bahrain citizenship. It defines five primary modes of acquisition of Bahraini citizenship: by virtue of former law, i.e., the 1937 citizenship law, by descent, by birth, by naturalization, and by marriage. For the purposes of this analysis, the acquisition of nationality by descent codified in Article 4<\/a> is of particular interest. It stipulates that:<\/p>\n \u201cAnyone shall be regarded a Bahraini national if:<\/em><\/p>\n (A)\u00a0 Was born in Bahrain after the effective date of this Act, and his father was a Bahraini at the time of birth.<\/em><\/p>\n (B)\u00a0 Born outside Bahrain after the effective date of this Act, and his father was a Bahraini national at the time of birth, provided that this father or the grandfather was born in Bahrain.<\/em><\/p>\n (C)\u00a0 Born in Bahrain or abroad, after the effective date of this Act, and his mother, at the time of birth, was a Bahraini national provided that father was unknown, without nationality or fatherhood was not substantiated.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n This Article aims to give men the right to grant citizenship to their children automatically. In other words, Bahraini women cannot transfer their own citizenship to either of their children, except in cases specified in paragraph (C)<\/a>, if the child is born from an unknown father or from a father whose legal status has not been proven. Instead, the law elaborates in Article 7, Paragraph (1)<\/a> on the possibility of a female citizen losing her Bahraini citizenship through marriage if she acquires the citizenship of her foreign husband.<\/p>\n Therefore, women do not have the same rights as men to pass citizenship to their children.<\/p>\n In 2018, Bahrain stated in its Fourth periodic report submitted by Bahrain under article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women<\/a> that an amendment to the Nationality Act was under discussion, aiming to grant Bahraini citizenship to children of Bahraini women married to foreigners \u201cin line with constitutional principles, safeguarding the state\u2019s sovereignty<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Later, in 2019 the Kingdom of Bahrain, in its National Report Regarding the Progress of Implementing the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 2020<\/a>, reaffirmed that measures had been taken, including \u201ca draft law amendment, to promote equality and non-discrimination against Bahraini women<\/em>.\u201d The proposed change, dating back to the decision of the Council of Ministers on 11 January 2014, which approved a draft law amending some provisions of the Bahraini Nationality Act of 1963, would allow children of Bahraini women married to foreigners to be eligible for Bahraini citizenship based on specific criteria.<\/p>\n According to what has been stated in both national reports, measures still protect those children in the meantime of assimilating the legal status of foreign children of Bahraini women to that of children of Bahraini men. For instance, Act No. 35 of 2009<\/a> would ensure the fair treatment of children of Bahraini women married to non-Bahrainis on par with Bahrainis regarding education, health, and residence fees. Moreover, the Supreme Council for Women,<\/a> along with representatives from the Council of Ministers, the Royal Court, and the Ministry of the Interior, would monitor citizenship applications for these children. However, with regard to the law, Bahraini women married to foreigners still need to request a transfer of nationality for their children through a royal decree, for which the Supreme Council for Women<\/a> is entitled to provide legal assistance and support until children can obtain Bahraini citizenship. Considered as \u201cregulatory measures<\/em>,\u201d the Kingdom of Bahrain justifies it by ensuring that children do not possess multiple nationalities and by respecting the will of individuals.<\/p>\n Thirdly, Bahrain has acceded to several international human rights standards, some with specific reservations but not all of the 18 international human rights treaties<\/a>. The following table provides an overview of the treaties used in the legal analysis to which Bahrain is legally bound through its accession.<\/p>\nBahraini national legal framework<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n