CITIZENSHIP AND STATELESSNESS IN THE HORN OF AFRICA \Y The 1995 constitution recognised the Ethiopian citizenship of “any woman or man either of whose parents is an Ethiopian citizen”, for the first time creating equal rights for men and women nationality to their children.*? 1930 remained in force. to transmit For the time being, however, the gender discriminatory nationality law of In 2003, the 1930 law was finally replaced, bringing gender equality but retaining the jus sanguinis regime, except for the introduction of a presumption of Ethiopian nationality for abandoned infants. Eritrea The Eritrean provisional government’s Nationality Proclamation No.21 of 1992, on the basis of which eligibility to register in the independence referendum was determined, provided that Eritrean nationals were those born of a father or mother “of Eritrean origin”. The law defined “Eritrean origin” to mean (descent from) a person who was resident in Eritrea in 1933, the date of the Italian law defining Eritrean or Somali subjects. Those who had entered and resided in Eritrea between 1934 and 1951 (after the establishment of the Italian colony and before the federation with Ethiopia) were also entitled to a certificate of nationality on application. Any person who arrived in Eritrea in 1952 or later had to apply for naturalisation in the same way as any other foreigner, showing a ten-year residence in Eritrea before 1974, or a twenty-year residence thereafter, and renounce any other nationality. Barred from acquiring nationality were those who had “committed anti-people acts during the liberation struggle of the Eritrean people”.*> In practice, those who were recognised as obtaining Eritrean nationality in 1993 included many people of mixed ancestry. Proclamation 22/1992 then established procedures for participation in the referendum, providing that those eligible to vote were adults who held an identification card More than 1.1 issued million people had acquired nationality under Proclamation 21/1992 and who by the provisional registered; among them government’s Department for Internal Affairs.2* almost 300,000 outside the territory, including more than 150,000 in Sudan and close to 58,000 in Ethiopia.” The Ethiopian and Eritrean governments agreed that “until such time that the citizens of one of the sides residing in the other’s territory are fully identified and until the issue of citizenship is settled in both countries, the traditional right of citizens of one side to live in the other’s territory shall be respected.”26 In 1996, Ethiopia agreed with Eritrea that Eritrean-Ethiopians should actively choose between their two 22 Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Proclamation No.1/1995. Article 6 provides that: “(1) Any person of either sex shall be an Ethiopian national where both or either parent is Ethiopian. (2) Foreign nationals may acquire Ethiopian nationality. (3) Particulars relating to nationality shall be determined by law.” 23 Eritrean Nationality Proclamation No.21/1992, sections 2-4. 24 Eritrean Referendum Proclamation No.22/1992, section 16. 25 Eritrea: Birth of a Nation (Asmara: Government of Eritrea, 1993), chap. ‘Referendum Results’, http://www.dehai.org/conflict/history/birth_of_a_nation.htm. 26 “Agreement on Security and Other Related Matters between the Ministries of internal Affairs of the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea’, Addis Ababa, 13 May 1994, article 2.3. Cited in Human Rights Watch, ‘The Horn of Africa War: Mass Expulsions and the Nationality Issue (lune 1998-April 2002)’ (New York, January 2003). See also (from the Eritrean perspective) Natalie S. Klein, ‘Report on the Deportation of Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean Origin from Ethiopia, June — August 1998’ (Washington, D.C.: Embassy of Eritrea to the United States, 1999). 12 UNHCR — December 2021