REFUGEES FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION UNHCR, APRIL 2023 director”.285 Although birth registration is free, a birth certificate costs USh5,000 plus USh2,500 in bank charges (approx. US$2 in total); however, fees for birth certificates are waived for refugees. 286 The Registration of Persons Act provides for the birth certificate to record the nationality of the child, and a “national” or “alien” identification number is issued to the child at the time of registration, as well as a record of the nationality and identification numbers of the parents. 287 It is not stated how the nationality of the child should be determined; yet this can be a question of complex legal analysis. In practice, birth certificates issued by NIRA record the nationality of the parents only. To register an in-country birth, the refugee must present: (1) birth notification record from medical facility, (2) parents’ refugee ID or attestation document, and (3) completed online NIRA notice of birth (Form 3). A birth certificate issued to a child born to refugees may not indicate the parents’ country of origin, but clearly specifies that they are refugees (qualifying them for the fee waiver). 288 Uganda was the first country in Africa to require registration of births and deaths for the African population of the territory, adopting legislation to this effect in 1904. Birth registration rates had reached 65 percent by 1948, declining to an estimated 35 percent by 1994. 289 The most recent survey data, published in 2016, showed Uganda’s birth registration rate for children under five was 32 percent, of whom 20 percent held birth certificates. 290 The limited resources and capacity of NIRA have created significant barriers to achieving universal birth registration, especially in remote areas. To improve the timeliness of birth registration services, the government is working to establish links between the medical databases of hospitals registering births and the national NIRA database system. Uganda is also developing a Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) strategy. Permanent residence or other long-term immigration status Section 55 of the Citizenship and Immigration Control Act provides that a certificate of permanent residence may be issued to a person who has lived legally in Uganda for 10 years, or is married to a Ugandan and has been resident for three years. Although it does not appear that refugees are in principle excluded from this provision, permanent residence is subject to conditions that would likely place it out of reach -- including that the person has contributed to the socioeconomic or intellectual development of Uganda; is of good character and has no criminal record; has paid all required taxes; and is not a bankrupt or destitute. Access to Ugandan citizenship Applicable law: Constitution 1995, as amended 2005; supplemented by the Citizenship and Immigration Control Act 1999, as amended 2009, and the Citizenship Regulations 2009. It is next to impossible for refugees to access citizenship in Uganda. The Constitution and Citizenship and Immigration Control Act restrict access to citizenship by birth in Uganda to members of “indigenous communities” listed in a schedule to the constitution. The children of refugees are specifically excluded from acquiring citizenship by birth; and refugees are also excluded from accessing citizenship by 285 Registration of Persons Act, sec.30. 286 See information at NIRA website: https://nira.go.ug/fees. 287 Registration of Persons Act, sec. 39. 288 Interviews, NIRA, 2021. 289 Van Der Straaten, Jaap, Victoria Esquivel Korsiak, and Luda Bujoreanu, Identification for Development (ID4D) Country Diagnostic: Uganda. Washington, D.C.: World Bank 2018, chapter 2.2.1. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/921761542144309171/Identification -for-Development-ID4DCountry-Diagnostic-Uganda. 290 As reported in the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey 2016 https://dhsprogram.com/where-we-work/Country- Main.cfm . 76