UNHCR, APRIL 2023 REFUGEES FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION this status will be determined in case of doubt. In Uganda, the Registration of Persons Act provides for a birth certificate to record the nationality of the child as well as of the parents; however, the current birth certificates only record the nationality of the parents.47 In DRC, the nationality of the parents is recorded on the birth certificate; the family code provides that a person born on Congolese territory is identified as a foreigner, based on the law of the country of origin of the parents. 48 The DRC and Rwandan laws provide for the civil registry and courts to be able to substitute civil status records where they are absent, based on submission of evidence about the event (birth, marriage, death, etc).49 In Uganda, there is the possibility of a “statutory declaration” to establish legal recognition of civil status events, which would appear to apply to events occurring in or outside of Uganda.50 In principle, these procedures would appear to apply whether the event occurred on the territory of the country or abroad, and would potentially be of use for refugees who do not have birth and other civil status certificates from their country of birth. In practice, they are not easily accessed, especially by refugees. Acquisition of nationality by adult refugees The 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees provides that states parties “shall as far as possible facilitate the assimilation and naturalisation of refugees”, by such measures as expediting proceedings and reducing the costs of naturalisation (Article 34); a similar clause is included in the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (Article 32). The 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa requires countries of asylum to use their best endeavours to “secure the settlement” of refugees who are unable to return home (Article II.1). All three countries are party to the UN and OAU Refugee Conventions. Rwanda and Uganda are parties to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, and DRC has pledged to accede. All three countries include provisions in their nationality laws that would in principle permit refugees to acquire nationality based on long-term residence in the country (seven years in the case of DRC, 15 years for Rwanda, or 20 years for Uganda). In 2021, Rwanda’s new nationality code also established in principle a procedure for stateless persons to be able to acquire nationality, based only on presence in the territory and subject to the condition that the person is not a threat to national security (although this has yet to be put into operation in practice). In Uganda, the 1995 constitution makes it more difficult for refugees to acquire nationality than other resident foreigners, through a distinction between acquisition of citizenship by “registration”, on the basis of ten years’ residence or marriage, or by “naturalisation”, on the basis of conditions to be established by legislation.51 The constitution (as implemented by the Citizenship and Immigration Control Act 1999, as amended 2009) limits acquisition by registration to those who have “legally and voluntarily migrated to Uganda”, thus excluding refugees; but allows in principle for a generally available naturalisation process to be established. The Citizenship and Immigration Control Act of 1999 (as amended 2009) provides for naturalisation based on 20 years residence as an adult and other conditions. The Constitutional Court has confirmed that in principle refugees should be able to acquire citizenship by naturalisation. 52 47 Registration of Persons Act, sec. 39; interviews, Kampala, 2021. 48 Family code, art. 71: “L’identification d’un étranger né sur le territoire congolais se fait dans l’acte de naissance conformément aux dispositions de son droit national.” 49 Rwanda: Law nº 32/2016, as amended, art. 86-91.; DRC: Family code, arts. 153 – 159. 50 Statutory Declarations Act, 2000. 51 Samuel G. Walker, ‘From Refugee to Citizen? Obstacles to the Naturalisation of Refugees in Uganda’ (Kampala, Uganda: Refugee Law Project, 2011), https://www.refugeelawproject.org/files/briefing_papers/Naturalisation_Of_Refugees.pdf. 52 Centre for Public Interest Law Ltd and Salima Namusobya v. Attorney General, Constitutional Petition No. 34 of 2010, Judgement of 6 October 2015. 15