REFUGEES FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION UNHCR, APRIL 2023 4. Conclusion: Risks of statelessness and durable solutions The risks of statelessness for long-term refugees are obvious, even more so for their descendants born in the country of asylum. The vast majority of long-term refugees surveyed for this report hold no identity documents issued by the country of origin. Most of those born in the country of asylum, or who arrived as children, have lost or never had any meaningful connection to the country of origin of their parents, speak national languages in the country of asylum, and regard that country as their home. If they had to seek recognition of the nationality of the country of origin, they might struggle to do so. If the national laws of the countries where refugee children are born provide no rights to nationality based on birth in the country in any circumstances, then it is certain that some of these children born in the country of asylum will be stateless. This is the case in Uganda for those who are not members of one of the “indigenous communities” listed in the constitution. The laws of DRC and Rwanda provide the possibility for those born in the country of foreign parents to acquire nationality, with facilitated access for those who would otherwise be stateless. However, in DRC it appears highly unlikely that these procedures have ever been accessed, given the practical barriers to doing so; while in Rwanda, it is not yet clear how the provisions of the 2021 nationality code will be applied. In addition to rights based on birth in the territory, access to naturalisation based on long-term residence is also important, if statelessness is to be avoided, and for durable solutions to be available to long-term refugees. Yet naturalisation is rare in all three countries considered for this report. In DRC naturalisation is generally inaccessible. In Rwanda, fewer than 100 people a year on average were naturalised under the previous nationality code, among whom UNHCR is aware that there have been only a handful of refugees. In Uganda it is especially difficult for refugees to acquire citizenship, and naturalisation can only be applied for from the age of 38; that is, based on 20 years’ residence after attaining majority. Ugandan citizenship acquired by registration (an easier process not accessible by refugees, unless married to a Ugandan citizen) or naturalisation is not acquired by the minor children of those registering or naturalising as part of that process, nor transmitted to children born after the parent has acquired citizenship. The conditions applied for dual nationality require a refugee applying for registration or naturalisation to renounce a former nationality. As a consequence, the children of refugees who naturalise in Uganda would be very likely to be stateless. If naturalisation or other forms of acquisition of nationality on the basis of long-term residence and/or birth in the country are not immediately available, the possibility of facilitating the access of refugees to a permanent residence status of the country of asylum, including as an interim step towards acquisition of nationality could be explored further. The procedures to grant permanent residence status under the national laws are not intended for or accessible to refugees in their current formulation. The research for this report did not indicate that many long-term refugees seek such a status; they hold on to the possibility of resettlement, and to the benefits – however limited – that they receive as refugees. Refugee status itself is viewed as providing for indefinite legal residence rights (unless the cessation clauses under the Refugee Convention are invoked). However, when refugee documents are hard to renew within the required time frames, refugees may face challenges– for example around freedom of movement and risks of refoulement – if they do not have a currently valid identity document. The possibility of a permanent residence status that removed or reduced renewal requirements and provided wider socio-economic rights could therefore be considered as a route to legal integration – provided that those with this status could acquire nationality of the host country in due course. In some countries, children born in the country of parents who have a permanent residence status are automatically attributed citizenship at birth, or have facilitated access to citizenship. 85 National legal frameworks make birth registration the foundational document for the recognition of nationality in practice, whether the law provides for nationality to be transmitted from a parent to a child 85 For example, in South Africa. See Bronwen Manby, Citizenship and Statelessness in the Member States of the Southern African Development Community, UNHCR 2020 https://www.refworld.org/docid/6012a0d44.html. 30