UNHCR, APRIL 2023 REFUGEES FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION registration based on ten years’ residence in Uganda, although not from the separate and more discretionary process of naturalisation based on 20 years’ residence. 291 Attribution of citizenship to children The 1995 Constitution reformulated the principles on which Ugandan citizenship is based. It attributes citizenship from birth to every person born in our outside Uganda “one of whose parents or grandparents is or was a member of any of the indigenous communities existing and residing within the borders of Uganda as at the first day of February, 1926”. 292 The third schedule to the constitution lists these groups; this list was supplemented in amendments to the constitution in 2005. 293 In addition, citizenship is attributed to “every person born in or outside Uganda one of whose parents or grandparents was at the time of birth of that person a citizen of Uganda by birth” (thus excluding the children of registered or naturalised citizens).294 Those who were already citizens of Uganda retained the same status. 295 In 2022, the Uganda High Court confirmed that members of the Ugandan Somali community (not listed in the constitution) who had been citizens under previous laws were eligible for citizenship under the current legal regime.296 This legal framework creates recognised risks of statelessness, and there are proposals to expand the list of indigenous communities again to address these concerns. 297 However, there will always be individuals who are left stateless by a system that depends on such a list.298 Uganda’s 1995 constitution and the Citizenship and Immigration Control Act create the presumption of citizenship for a child found in the territory up to the (apparent) age of five. 299 Before registering a foundling, NIRA requires a police letter that the child’s parents are not known. 300 The same articles provide for acquisition of citizenship by an adopted child on application. 301 The regulations, however, provide for the National Citizenship and Immigration Board to be “notified” of the adoption, and for an oath of allegiance to be taken from the age of 16; there is no procedure for the immediate formal registration of the child’s citizenship. 302 Moreover, as a registered citizen, an adopted child would be unable to transmit Ugandan citizenship to his or her own child. 291 For a detailed discussion of the law and policy relating to acquisition of citizenship by refugees in Uganda, see Marshall Godfrey Alenyo, ‘International Refugee Law and the Right to Nationality: Legal Responses to the Rwandan Refugee Crisis in Uganda’ (LLM, University College Cork, 2014), https://citizenshiprightsafrica.org/internationalrefugee-law-and-the-right-to-nationality-legal-responses-to-the-rwandan-refugee-crisis-in-uganda/. 292 Constitution of Uganda, 1995, as amended, art.10. 293 Uganda Constitution 1995, schedule 3, as amended by the Uganda Constitution Amendment Act, No. 11 of 2005. The third schedule uses the term “ethnic communities” and lists 65, as amended in 2005 (in the 1995 version, there were 56). 294 Constitution of Uganda, 1995, as amended, art.10. 295 Constitution of Uganda, 1995, as amended, art. 9. The 1967 Constitution similarly preserved the status of those who acquired citizenship at independence. 296 Abdu Abucar Hussein and 7 others v. Attorney General, Uganda High Court, Civil Suit No. 437 of 2019, Judgment of 18 March 2022. 297 “House to consider Bill recognising indigenous communities” The Independent (Kampala), 11 November 2021 https://www.independent.co.ug/house-to-consider-bill-recognising-indigenous-communities/ 298 See discussion in Manby, ‘Citizenship and Statelessness in the East African Community’. 299 “A child of not more than five years of age found in Uganda, whose parents are not known, shall be presumed to be a citizen of Uganda by birth.” Uganda Constitution 1995, Article 11(1); Uganda Citizenship & Immigration Control Act 1999, Section 13(1). 300 Interviews, NIRA, 2021. 301 Uganda Constitution 1995, Article 11(2); Citizenship and Immigration Control Act 1999, Section 13(2) . 302 Citizenship Regulations 2009, Section 4. 77