UNHCR, APRIL 2023 REFUGEES FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION 5. Recommendations Recommendations relating to the avoidance of statelessness among all groups in DRC, Rwanda and Uganda were included in two reports on statelessness among the member states of the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community published by UNHCR in 2018 and 2020. 88 The recommendations here relate specifically to the situation of long-term refugees and their descendants. ICGLR Secretariat and all ICGLR member states The ICGLR Consolidated Plan of Action on the eradication of statelessness acknowledges the particular risks of statelessness for refugees and especially their children born in the country of asylum, and the importance of proof of legal identity, including birth registration, to reduce these risks. 89 In the Outcome Document adopted on 7 March 2019 at Munyonyo, Uganda, ministers of ICGLR Member States in charge of refugees also “encouraged Member States who are willing and able to do so, to facilitate, with the support of partners, the naturalisation of refugees as a durable solution”, and “acknowledged that access to legal identity documentation, particularly birth registration, is critical to prevent and reduce statelessness”. In line with these commitments, ICGLR Member States should: Assessing and recording risks of statelessness • In consultation with UNHCR, adapt Government and UNHCR refugee registration (and, where relevant, refugee status determination) procedures to ensure that risks of statelessness are assessed and recorded, so that appropriate additional referral and protection measures can be put in place, according to national context. For example: o Data collected about unaccompanied and separated children for other child protection purposes could also be used to flag the risk of statelessness. o Statistics on statelessness, and planning to address statelessness, could be improved by recording information about refugees that are also stateless or of undetermined nationality. Facilitating acquisition of nationality • • Make acquisition of nationality based on residence more accessible to long-term refugees and their descendants, in line with the provisions of the UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (Article 34). These measures could include: o clarifying and publicising the conditions and processes for application; o adjusting fees so that they are reasonable for refugees; o reducing the requirements for supporting documents, taking into account the difficulties of refugees in supplying such documents; o ensuring that decisions are taken within reasonable time and notified to the applicant, with reasons in case of rejection and possibility of appeal. Consult with representatives of refugees and of host communities, as well as relevant civil society and local government, on the potential for refugees to access nationality, and on the resolution of any concerns that may be raised at local level around allocation of resources. 88 Manby, ‘Citizenship and Statelessness in the East African Community’; Manby, ‘Citizenship and Statelessness in SADC Member States’. 89 Consolidated Action Plan of the ICGLR on the eradication of statelessness in the Great Lakes (2017-2024), strategic objective 4 https://www.refworld.org/docid/60e70b3f4.html. 33