STATELESSNESS AND CITIZENSHIP IN THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY this should be through non-discretionary forms of registration, or failing that, simplified and facilitated naturalisation procedures. Even where a state does have in place legal protections for stateless children born in their territory, these procedures are usually very difficult to access, so other means of acquisition are critical. Naturalisation should be based on objective criteria and decided upon by a fair and transparent process , rather than depending on the personal decision of the Minister or President. Reasons should be given for refusal, and options to challenge a decision should be available if it is asserted that the person does not fulfil the conditions established in legislation. A state’s obligations to facilitate naturalisation under the 1951 Refugee Convention (Article 34) and 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (Article 32) should be taken into account – for example, through reduced fees in such circumstances, as implemented by Kenya in the case of the Makonde, or Tanzania for long-term Burundian refugees. Although there is no polling across the region, surveys of public attitudes in Kenya and Uganda to acquisition of citizenship by refugees and their children born in the country suggest reasonable openness to legal reform to widen access to citizenship for those of foreign origin. Reports published in June 2018 by the International Rescue Committee found that more than half of Ugandans and 32 percent of Kenyans supported access to citizenship for refugees after 5-10 years, and 62 percent of respondents in both countries after 20 years. In Kenya, 62 percent of respondents also thought that the children of refugees born in Kenya should have access to citizenship.347 The status of pastoralists Nationality law in most countries in the world is very poorly adapted to provide for those who do not live a settled existence. Nationality laws in African countries are largely derived from European models; that is from countries where nomadic lifestyles are the exception. In East Africa, however, nomadic pastoralists form a substantial percentage of the population. They have historically lived literally and figuratively at the margins of the state; today, with the security and development imperatives around identification, they risk yet further marginalisation – as do those from the same ethnic groups who in fact are not nomadic but have a settled existence. The East African Community could make a contribution to the development of norms for the African continent by devising rules for the effective incorporation of nomadic pastoralists within their states through the conferral of nationality. Statelessness and lack of identity documents It can be difficult to distinguish between a person who is undocumented and a person who is stateless. For example, Kenya’s national oversight bodies have documented the impact that difficult access to national identity cards has in Kenya, and have often referred to those people as stateless, although many denied access should be recognised as citizens of Kenya under the law. As UNHCR states, the determination of statelessness is a “mixed question of fact and law” (see box below). It is also hard to disentangle the impact of lack of identity documentation from the impact of statelessness. People whose citizenship is in doubt are especially likely to lack proof of identity, but there are also many not at risk of statelessness who lack documents and face the same risks of exclusion. Conversely, lack of a national identity document may not always place a person at risk of economic and social exclusion, where national identity documents are not widespread and are not required for most transactions. For example, until recently, various different identity documents or referral letters might have served to access private or public services in Tanzania; but a person is now required to show a new national identity card. Although the former systems also created risks of exclusion (for those without access to networks who could vouch for them), the primary risk of not holding proof of identity was that a person who was not perceived to be Tanzanian would be at risk of expulsion as an irregular migrant. The rollout of a new national identity card is hoped to increase the government’s knowledge of its own population and of non-Tanzanians resident in the country, and also 347 International Rescue Committee, Kenya: Citizens’ Perceptions on Refugees, June 2018; International Rescue Committee, Uganda: Citizens’ Perceptions on Refugees, June 2018. 82 UNHCR / September 2018