A/HRC/44/57/Add.1 continuous residence for access to citizenship (Law No. 38 of 2005) and between 10 and 20 years of residence for the permanent residency permit (Law No. 10 of 2018), which negatively affects many low-income workers. The Special Rapporteur learned from government officials that the annual cap on grants of permanent residence, not including those who received it through birth and marriage, was 100. The number stipulated may be increased year by year, in accordance with the rules and requirements. In accordance with Law No. 38 of 2005 (art. 17), citizenship through naturalization is not to be granted to more than 50 foreigners each year. This means that even for those who meet the extraordinary continuous residence and financial requirements for naturalization and permanent residence, the relative number of people who will receive Qatari nationality or permanent residence is very low. B. Statelessness 56. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, there were 1,200 stateless persons in Qatar at the end of 2017. 63 Among this population are some members of the Al-Ghufran clan whose citizenship was revoked in the aftermath of the failed coup in 1996 and has yet to be reinstated. 64 Under article 7 of Law No. 38 of 2005, Qatari nationality may be reinstated, by an Emiri decision, to a person who proves to be of Qatari origin provided that the person has resided in Qatar for at least three consecutive years, has a lawful means of income sufficient to meet his or her needs and is of good reputation. Although the Government has taken measures to restore the citizenship of many who were affected in that period, the process and extent of citizenship restoration remains opaque, making it difficult to determine how many remain stateless, and how many have had their nationality reinstated. Many have expressed concern that the restoration process has operated arbitrarily, denying citizenship to individuals who are entitled to it. Reports indicate that members of the Al-Ghufran clan who remain stateless lack the identity documentation necessary to enjoy vital human rights, including the rights to education, employment, housing, health care, property and marriage. 65 Their lack of documentation also deprives them of the panoply of government benefits afforded to other Qatari citizens, including government jobs and social benefits. 57. The Special Rapporteur also received reports from human rights organizations raising concerns that, while comprising a small proportion of the national population, Bidoon remain stateless and have difficulties accessing citizenship. During the visit, Government officials stated that 250 Bidoon had been recognized through law as Qatari citizens between 2017 and 2019, but that there were approximately 2,400 pending statelessness cases. These cases should be resolved as a matter of urgency, in a transparent and human rights-compliant manner. C. Refugees and asylum seekers 58. In 2018, Qatar became the first country in the Gulf and Middle East region to pass a law on political asylum. Law No. 11 of 2018 guarantees refugees and their families access to a range of free services provided by the Government, including travel documents, monthly allowances, and medical and educational services. 66 However, some reports express concern at the limited scope of the definition of refugee and the immense discretion granted in the Law to the Ministry of the Interior and the Prime Minister. The Minister of the Interior is not required to issue a denial on the asylum petition; no response constitutes a rejection of the asylum seeker’s application. Article 8 of the Law stipulates that rejected asylum seekers cannot appeal to the courts or other judicial bodies but must lodge their 63 64 65 66 Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion Rights Realization Centre and Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, joint submission to the Human Rights Council at the thirty-third session of the universal periodic review, on Qatar. Human Rights Watch, “Qatar: families arbitrarily stripped of citizenship” (May 2019). Available from www.hrw.org/news/2019/05/12/qatar-families-arbitrarily-stripped-citizenship. Human Rights Watch, “Qatar: families arbitrarily stripped of citizenship”. See https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex4.detail?p_lang=en&p_isn=107347&p_count= 3&p_classification=17. 15