REFUGEES FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION UNHCR, APRIL 2023 of origin and asylum, proposes a clause that the country of origin shall recognise civil status documents issued by the country of asylum. 135 Because of the complications around the application of national laws, UNHCR thus advises in general that that birth certificates should not record the nationality of children, but that if a field for child’s nationality exists on a birth certificate, it should be left blank where nationality is unclear. 136 If this is the case, there should be a procedure to determine what the nationality of the child is, or what nationality may be acquired, or if the child may be stateless. (See further below, acquisition of nationality by the children of refugees born in the territory of the country of asylum.) Documentation of nationality Action 8 of the UNHCR Global Action Plan to End Statelessness is for states to issue nationality documentation to those with entitlement to it. The goal is that no States have populations which are entitled to nationality under law but which cannot acquire documentary proof of nationality.137 A number of international instruments are relevant to this action, including those relating to due process and burden of proof. In the case of Anudo v. Tanzania, for example, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights has affirmed that if a person has ever been issued official identity documents confirming nationality, the burden of proof is on the state to disprove their validity. 138 In recognition of the fact that there are many hundreds of thousands of people in the Great Lakes region who do not have documentary proof of nationality, the ICGLR Consolidated Regional Action Plan on the eradication of statelessness, as expanded in 2019, includes the following actions: • • • Develop a regional strategy and policy guidelines on accessing nationality documentation (including but not limited to nationality certificates, national identity cards or passports). Promote practical measures to enable citizens living abroad to access civil registration services (where applicable, the transcription of civil status records established abroad) and nationality documentation through consular and administrative assistance. With the preliminary agreement of the States concerned, establish bilateral or multilateral commissions to confirm nationality where it is in doubt, including among border populations and those in a migratory or nomadic situation, and to provide access to nationality documentation. 139 Permanent residence and other forms of long-term immigration status Even if it is not possible for refugees and their children to acquire citizenship, other forms of secure legal status are sometimes provided to refugees in protracted situations, in particular an immigration status of permanent resident (or similar title) – with rights equivalent to those of citizens, except for the political rights to vote or stand for public office. 135 Handbook on Voluntary Repatriation: International Protection, UNHCR 1996, clause 11 of sample agreement https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3510.html. 136 ‘UNHCR, Child protection Issue https://www.refworld.org/docid/523fe9214.html. Brief : Birth Registration’, August 2013 137 Global Action Plan to End Statelessness: 2014 – 2024 https://www.unhcr.org/ibelong/global-action-plan-2014 2024/. 138 Anudo Ochieng Anudo v. United Republic of Tanzania, No. 012/2015 (African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights 22 March 2018); Manby, ‘Case Study: Anudo v Tanzania’. 139 Consolidated Action Plan of the ICGLR on the eradication of statelessness in the Great Lakes (2017 -2024), objectives 4.2.1, 4.2.2 and 4.2.3 https://www.refworld.org/docid/60e70b3f4.html. 50