CITIZENSHIP AND STATELESSNESS IN THE HORN OF AFRICA \Y The negotiations over the different constitutions for the Federal Republic of Somalia (see heading above: The Federal Member States of Somalia and the status of Somaliland) have debated different views of who should be a Somali citizen. The reconciliation conference held in 2003, for example, included two drafting committees for what became the Transitional Federal Charter of 2004, one of which proposed an ethnic basis for citizenship (aiming to include the large Somali diaspora) rights based on birth and residence in Somalia.2°” A decade and the other proposed later, a draft new citizenship law was prepared during 2015 and 2016 by the Ministry of the Interior, with assistance from NGO UNHCR and the Legal Action Worldwide (LAW). The draft was discussed during a three-day public consultation process held in July 2016 with representatives from across Somalia. These consultations revealed similar strong differences of opinion about the basis for Somali citizenship, including gender equality, the place of the Muslim religion, and the role of ethnicity.2°° The draft citizenship bill was presented to the Council of Ministers together with a summary of the public feedback. The draft reforms the existing law by moving somewhat away from an ethnic basis for citizenship to include rights based on birth in Somalia, providing a more secure status for the non-Somali ethnic minorities in Somalia — although it would not remove all risks of statelessness. The bill would still define “Somali” as “any person who by origin, language or tradition belongs to the Somali Nation”, and a person who is “Somali” would acquire citizenship by operation of law (whether resident in Somalia or not). However, the bill also provides for equal rights for men and women to transmit nationality to their children and spouses, and for a person born in Somalia to acquire citizenship if one parent was also born in Somalia, or if he or she would otherwise be stateless. Foundlings are presumed to be citizens (a provision already included in the law). Dual citizenship is permitted, in line with the 2012 constitution.2°° The draft was not formally approved by the Council of Ministers, and no further progress has been made towards adoption of a new law. In June 2021, Somalia adopted a national action plan to end statelessness. The action plan focuses on six priority areas linked to UNHCR’s Global Action Plan to End Statelessness (2014-2024), including ending discrimination based on sex or ethnicity, and ensuring that no child is born stateless. The plan drew on the current study to highlight the risks of statelessness for members of minorities.2°° Ethiopians of Eritrean descent The population at risk of statelessness that has received the most attention in Ethiopia over the past two decades are Ethiopians of Eritrean origin, many of whom were denationalised following the crisis of 1998. The initial separation of Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1993 was amicably agreed between the former 257 Eno, The Bantu Jareer Somalis, 220-21. 258 Technical Workshop to Incorporate Feedback from Public Consultation into Citizenship Bill, Minutes, Legal Action Worldwide (LAW), August 2016. 259 Draft Somali Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016. Reforms summarized at https://www.legalactionworldwide.org/where-we-work/somalia/somalicitizenship-bill/, 260 The six priorities are 1: Ensure no child is born stateless; 2: Remove gender discrimination from nationality laws; 3: Prevent denial, loss or deprivation of nationality on discriminatory grounds; 4: Ensure birth registration for the prevention of statelessness; 5: Accede to the UN Statelessness Conventions; 6: Improve qualitative and quantitative data on stateless populations. The national action plan for Somalia is available at http-//citizenshiprightsafrica.org/national-action-plan-to-end-statelessness-in-somalia-2021-2024/, The Global Action Plan is available at https://www.unhcr.org/protection/statelessness/54621bf49/global-action-plan-end-statelessness-2014-2024. html. UNHCR — December 2021 59