36. The R-ARCSS provides a clear framework for protecting the rights of displaced populations. Chapter III recognizes the right of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to return voluntarily, safely, and with dignity; the right of returnees to protection under the Bill of Rights; the right of refugees and IDPs to citizenship; the establishment of mechanisms for registration, identification, and documentation of affected populations, including children, spouses, land, and property lost during the conflict; and the responsibility of the Revitalized Transitional Government to implement programmes for the relief, repatriation, resettlement, rehabilitation, and reintegration of refugees, returnees, and internally displaced persons in collaboration with humanitarian partners.19 37. More than a decade of conflict has resulted in large-scale displacement, repeated cross-border movements, and the loss or destruction of civil documentation for many South Sudanese. South Sudan continues to experience one of the largest displacement crises in Africa, with millions of refugees, returnees, and internally displaced persons (IDPs) affected by conflict, insecurity, and humanitarian emergencies. Displacement has resulted in the loss of identity documents, disruption of civil registration, and significant barriers to proving nationality, placing many individuals, particularly women and children, at heightened risk of exclusion and statelessness. Refugees returning from neighbouring countries, IDPs, pastoralist communities, border populations, women, and children born in displacement continue to face practical barriers in obtaining proof of nationality and legal identity. Without effective civil registration and accessible documentation systems, these populations remain at heightened risk of exclusion from essential services, political participation, and statelessness. 38. Civic and political space in South Sudan remains restricted despite constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly, and participation. Human rights defenders, journalists, civil society organizations, and political actors continue to face intimidation, harassment, censorship, and arbitrary restrictions, while media freedom remains limited. These constraints reduce public awareness of citizenship rights, limit access to legal information and documentation services, and hinder citizens' ability to challenge decisions affecting their nationality and legal identity. They disproportionately affect women, displaced people, refugees, returnees, and marginalized communities, increasing the risk of exclusion and statelessness. South Sudan should therefore strengthen civic and political freedoms, protect media independence, and ensure an enabling environment for everyone to exercise their rights and access nationality and legal identity without discrimination. ISSUE I - Deprivation of Nationality and Non-Implementation of Animu’s case 39. South Sudan is bound by international, and regional obligations to prevent arbitrary deprivation of nationality and to protect individuals from statelessness. The South Sudan Nationality Act, 2011 further establishes the legal framework governing 19 Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan, available at: https://www.peaceagreements.org/agreements/2112/. 7