Kathmandu, February 14

The National Human Rights Commission today recommended that the government grant citizenship certificates to all children on the basis of their mother’s Nepali nationality.

The rights body held a discussion on the issue today after many complaints were lodged at the NHRC drawing its attention to the problems many people faced in the course of obtaining their citizenship on the basis of their mothers’ nationality.

“As per Article 12 of the Constitution of Nepal which guarantees right to obtain citizenship on the basis of descent and gender identity and the Supreme Court’s order, the government is recommended to grant  all children their citizenship certificates on the basis of their mothers’ nationality,” the NHRC said in its release.

The rights body also urged the government to keep the record of unidentified dead bodies and asked the government to seek help of media outlets besides its own mechanism for identification of bodies. It also told the government to keep detailed records of the dead bodies while cremating them in any local level. The NHRC said  the current laws dealing with the disposal of dead bodies were not adequate and hence these provisions should be reviewed.