CITIZENSHIP AND STATELESSNESS IN THE HORN OF AFRICA \Y minority communities, who face significant discrimination in daily life, at high risk of not being recognised as nationals as Somalia seeks to rebuild its identification infrastructure. All the states considered by this report provide for the possibility of acquiring nationality based on longterm residence and fulfilment of other conditions. The provisions in law, however, are severely limited in application. Naturalisation appears to be inaccessible in practice — as it is in all African countries. Lack of access to naturalisation does not in principle create another nationality and this nationality is documented. statelessness But it does if the person concerned has at least create exclusion from the benefits of citizenship, and it greatly increases the risk of statelessness if naturalisation is impossible to access for those who have lost any connection to their country of origin, including for later generations born in a country where neither parent is recognised as a national. Birth registration While Djibouti has achieved birth registration rates of above 90 percent of children under five, none of the other countries information from covered by this have reported rates of above Ethiopia is an improvement to 16 percent). Recent five percent (although the latest initiatives have slightly improved these figures, but birth registration remains very low — and of course even lower among those who are already adults. Although birth registration is not (usually) accepted as proof of nationality, it provides the most authoritative evidence of the facts that enable a person to claim nationality — place and date of birth, and identity of parents. Universal birth registration is thus a priority for the prevention of statelessness. If the parents of a child are not nationals of the country of birth, access to consular services may be essential, both to issue documents required for the parents to be able to register the child’s birth in the host country, and for that child’s right to the parent’s nationality to be assured, through transcription of the birth certificate into the records of the state of origin. Yet it can be costly and difficult to access such consular services, nearing impossible for those who are refugees or without existing identity documents. In the absence of birth registration, states rely in practice on alternative identification systems to establish a person’s identity and nationality, usually including witness testimony of different kinds. Due process and transparency in nationality administration For legal protections against statelessness to be effective, the administration of nationality and identification needs to follow basic rules of due process and transparency. Amongst other requirements, there should be clearly stated criteria for proof of entitlement to citizenship, including witness testimony in case birth certificates or other documents are not available, and the steps to be taken in case no evidence of citizenship is available (for example in the case of children of unknown parents). Administrative safeguards against statelessness start with the establishment of child protection systems that ensure that the right of every child to acquire a nationality is respected in practice, in line with the obligations of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This means that procedures should be put in place so that, for example, the legal attribution of nationality to children of unknown 4 parents found in the territory is practically implemented UNHCR — December 2021