Legislative Package for Accession to Refugee and Statelessness Conventions

Iraq's Current Position and the Four Instruments

Iraq currently operates outside the global treaty system concerning the status of refugees and stateless persons, despite having national legislation for political refugees and an existing government registration system. According to the treaty status published as of 6 October 2026, the 1951 Convention has 146 States Parties, the 1967 Protocol 147, the 1954 Convention 99, and the 1961 Convention 82. Iraq does not appear in the lists of parties.

Political Refugees Law No. 51 of 1971 remains the basis for the work of the Ministry of Interior's Permanent Committee for Refugee Affairs, and Administrative Instructions No. 4 of 2024 were issued to implement its procedures. A joint registration model involving UNHCR and the Permanent Committee began on 26 April 2026 in the central and southern governorates, Kirkuk and Nineveh. The government document issued by the Committee became the official document establishing asylum-seeker status in those areas.

The Constitutional and Legal Pathway to Accession

Treaty-Making Law No. 35 of 2015 governs the Republic of Iraq's accession to multilateral treaties. It defines accession as approval by the Council of Representatives and ratification by the President of the Republic of a commitment to a multilateral treaty not previously signed during the signature period. It also requires the proposed multilateral treaty to be submitted to relevant bodies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the competent legal advisory body before accession.

Under Article 17 of the Treaty-Making Law, accession laws for these instruments are enacted by an absolute majority of the total membership of the Council of Representatives. They do not fall within the categories of border or peace treaties, political, security or military alliances, or accession to a regional organisation, for which the Law requires a two-thirds majority. After parliamentary approval and presidential ratification, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs deposits the accession instruments with the United Nations Secretary-General. The Ministry of Justice then publishes the law and international instrument in the Iraqi Gazette, and the date of entry into force for Iraq is announced.

Why a Single Package?

The four instruments address different but interconnected problems. The 1951 Convention defines a refugee and establishes minimum rights and safeguards; the 1967 Protocol removes the historical time limitation. The 1954 Convention protects a person whom no state considers its national, even if that person is not a refugee, and provides legal status, documentation and basic rights. The 1961 Convention focuses on preventing statelessness at birth or as a result of loss or deprivation of nationality or transfer of territory.

Acceding to one instrument while leaving the others aside creates gaps. A person may be stateless without being a refugee, and a refugee may hold a nationality. The package therefore proposes coordinated accession to all four instruments, each through a separate law to facilitate deposit, publication and administration of entry-into-force provisions.

Policy on Reservations and Declarations

The 1951 Convention permits reservations to some provisions but prohibits them to core articles covering the refugee definition, non-discrimination, freedom of religion, access to courts, non-refoulement and a number of final provisions. The 1967 Protocol permits a limited range of reservations. The 1954 Convention prohibits reservations to the definition of a stateless person, non-discrimination, freedom of religion, access to courts and certain final provisions. The 1961 Convention permits reservations only to an exhaustive list of specified articles.

The package proposes no substantive Iraqi reservations. Where an issue can be addressed through a clear amendment to domestic legislation, amendment is preferable to a permanent reservation that reduces protection and complicates implementation. If the constitutional authorities decide to include the declaration contemplated by the Treaty-Making Law concerning non-recognition of Israel, it should be worded so as not to diminish individual rights or obstruct the instruments' non-reciprocal obligations.

Legislative Alignment Matrix

Required Amendment to the Iraqi Nationality Law

Nationality Law No. 26 of 2006 contains important safeguards, including transmission of nationality through an Iraqi father or mother, treating a child born in Iraq to unknown parents as Iraqi, and restoration of nationality to those deprived of it for political, racial or sectarian reasons. Accession to the 1961 Convention nevertheless requires addressing three gaps.

A child who would be born stateless: The Law does not establish a general rule covering every child born in Iraq who cannot acquire any state's nationality. The package proposes an explicit safeguard granting Iraqi nationality under the Convention's conditions.

A minor's loss of nationality following the parent: Article 14/Second links the loss of nationality of minor children to their Iraqi parent's loss of nationality. A limitation must be added preventing this consequence if it would make the child stateless.

Deprivation of acquired nationality: Article 15 permits deprivation where an act deemed a danger to state security is established or false information in the naturalisation application is proven by a final judgment. The 1961 Convention allows certain consequences of fraud and false statements but restricts deprivation leading to statelessness on other grounds. The package therefore proposes not retaining broader powers of security-based deprivation where the result would be statelessness.

Palestinians and the right of return: The general prohibition in Article 6/Second may be retained to protect the right of return, with a narrow individual exception where a child born in Iraq would otherwise have no nationality. Acquiring nationality in this circumstance shall not be interpreted as extinguishing rights of return, property or compensation, or as a programme of resettlement or collective naturalisation.

Accession Bills

Proposed Implementation Sequence

1. Adopt the national protection law. Adopt POL-18 or an equivalent government bill before or alongside the entry into force of the obligations.
2. Adopt the four accession laws. Pass them as an interconnected package, keeping each instrument in a separate law.
3. Amend the Nationality Law. Adopt the amendment preventing statelessness before the 1961 Convention enters into force for Iraq.
4. Complete ratification and deposit. The Presidency of the Republic ratifies in accordance with the law, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs deposits the accession instruments with the United Nations Secretary-General.
5. Official publication. The Ministry of Justice publishes the laws and official texts of the instruments, and the date of entry into force is announced.
6. Instructions and operating rules. Issue instructions on asylum, statelessness determination, documentation, employment, services and appeals.
7. Training and digital integration. Train the Permanent Committee, residence and passport departments, courts, police and service bodies.
8. Review after two years. Submit a public report on implementation, processing times, identified cases of statelessness and proposed amendments.

Legal and Institutional Effects

Accession turns refugee and stateless-person protection from national arrangements subject to unilateral change into a stable international commitment read alongside the Iraqi Constitution and laws. It does not transfer authority to decide whose application is accepted or rejected to an international body. The Iraqi government and courts remain the decision-makers on applications under the law, while UNHCR performs its international functions and provides technical support within its relationship with the state.

In asylum matters, Iraq moves from the narrow concept of a “political refugee” to a broader international definition based on a well-founded fear of persecution, with safeguards against refoulement and penalties for irregular entry in the covered circumstances. The state retains security-screening powers and grounds for exclusion and expulsion within legal limits.

For statelessness, the 1954 Convention does not automatically grant nationality; it regulates legal status, documentation and rights. The 1961 Convention requires prevention of specific forms of statelessness, while Iraqi nationality remains governed by amended national legislation applying the safeguards precisely.

General Explanatory Memorandum

Iraq has continued to receive refugees and groups needing international protection without being a party to the Refugee Convention and its Protocol. National law and cooperation with UNHCR have filled part of this gap, but the system has remained less stable than a treaty framework supported by modern national legislation. The shift towards government registration during 2026 confirms the state's expanding role in registration and documentation, making accession more practicable.

Accession to the 1951 Convention does not mean opening borders or accepting every asylum applicant. The Convention establishes a definition, conditions, exclusions and safeguards. It leaves the state responsible for border management, security screening, status determination and expulsion where permitted by law, but restricts return to a place where the person faces the danger against which non-refoulement protects.

Similarly, the statelessness conventions do not make Iraq a state that grants nationality to everyone lacking a document. Statelessness determination requires investigation of relevant states' laws, facts and records. Once status is established, the 1954 Convention provides legal status and basic rights, while the 1961 Convention requires prevention of specific situations that national law can avoid from the outset.

Iraqi nationality legislation has important strengths, particularly transmission of nationality through both mother and father, and restoration to those deprived of it for political, racial or sectarian reasons. Accession therefore requires targeted amendments to close gaps that could produce statelessness, rather than a complete rewriting of the law.

The package proposes adopting all four instruments together because separating them reduces the reform's effectiveness. The refugee framework needs the Protocol so that it is not confined to the 1951 time limit; protection of stateless persons needs the 1954 Convention; and prevention of recurrence needs the 1961 Convention. Domestic implementation through POL-18, the Nationality Law and sectoral legislation remains decisive to successful accession.