Key Threats of Statelessness in the Post-Secession sudanese 1 237 Introduction Following the secession of the Republic of South Sudan from the Republic of Sudan1 on 9 July 20112 both states have passed new citizenship laws with serious implications for the protection of individuals on both sides of the border and, in particular, individuals of South Sudanese origin remaining in Sudan. The new state of South Sudan has promulgated an entirely new Nationality Act3 (hereinafter the NASS), while Sudan has introduced a number of significant amendments to the 1994 Sudanese Nationality Act (hereinafter the SNA).4 I have recently published an extended analysis of the resulting nationality regime that describes its key features in some detail.5 The two laws combine to produce a substantially increased risk of both de jure and de facto statelessness. This paper seeks to explain the principle causes of these key protection threats. 2 The General Position Following State Succession The new Sudanese nationality regime makes aggressive provision for the automatic denationalization of individuals as they obtain the citizenship of South Sudan.6 Provision for involuntary denationalisation following acquisition of a foreign nationality are common among states that seek to avoid dual or multiple nationality.7 However, this is normally done only in those cases where a 1 The Republic of Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan will be referred to as Sudan and South Sudan throughout this paper. 2 Mike Pflanz ‘South Sudan Independence: Juba Celebrates the Birth of a Nation’ The Telegraph (London, 9 July 2011) <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/ south-sudan/8627647/South-Sudan-independence-Juba-celebrates-the-birth-of-a-nation .html> accessed 1 October 2013; ‘South Sudan’s Flag Raised at Independence Ceremony’ (BBC News On-Line, 9 July 2011) <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14092375> accessed 5 August 2013. 3 The Nationality Act 2011 (South Sudan). 4 Sudanese Nationality Act 1994 as amended by the Sudanese Nationality Act (Amendment) 2011 (Sudan). 5 Mike Sanderson, ‘The Post-Secession Nationality Regimes in Sudan and South Sudan’ (2013) 27(3) Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law 204. 6 ‘A person will automatically lose his Sudanese nationality if he has acquired, de jure or de facto, the nationality of South Sudan’ Sudanese Nationality Act (n 4) art. 10(2). 7 International Law Commission ‘Draft Articles on Nationality of Natural Persons in Relation to the Succession of States with commentaries’ Yearbook of the International Law Commission 1999, Vol II Part Two, art.10 commentary 1. tilburg law review 19 (2014) 236-247