CITIZENSHIP AND STATELESSNESS
IN THE HORN OF AFRICA
\Y
In the countries
covered
by this report, only Djibouti
has a fully functioning
system
for the issue of
national identity cards in place. While Eritrea has a national identity card, coverage of the current version
is low. Ethiopia is in the process of introducing a national identity card for the first time; and in Somalia
a digital identity scheme is proposed.
Djibouti
Djibouti has had a national identity card since 1981, issued by the Ministry of the Interior.'5' Before 2014,
Djiboutian
citizens
could
be
registered
either
by
the
mayor’s
office
or by the
traditional
religious
authority.'°* Since 2014, the identity card system has been centralised, and in digital format. The national
identity card is compulsory for all adult citizens, and records
nationality on the face of the card. The
identity card is needed to access any government services, including to register the birth of a child.
1%
In order to obtain a national identity card an applicant must produce the identity document of one or both
parents,
and an official copy of the birth register entry (acte de naissance,
certificate)
issued
less
than
three
months
previously;
as well
as
the equivalent of a birth
a marriage
and/or
naturalisation
certificate if relevant, student identity card if relevant, or business or employment identification.
'%4
A law of 2019 provides for a national identity number to be issued to every resident of Djibouti, whether
a national or foreigner, based on biometric identifiers and other data, including nationality.'®° This
number
is to be the basis for all other identity documents,
including national identity cards, travel
documents, voter cards etc.'°® The law states that no information should be mentioned in this register
that could lead to discrimination — including of ethnic, racial, or religious characteristics, or membership
of a political party or trades
union.'®’ As of early 2021,
the implementation
of the new
system
was
expected.
Djibouti introduced a biometric passport in 2017, with the requirement to replace old passports by the
end of the year. To acquire a passport, an applicant must produce a national identity card (only issued
in Djibouti) and any previous passport. As of 2017, the fee for issue outside the country was EUR75 (in
Brussels).
158
151 Décret n°81-125/PR du 17 novembre 1981 instituant la carte nationale d’identité.
152 Sabine Dini, ‘Migration Management, Capacity Building and the Sovereignty of an African State: International Organization for Migration in Djibouti’, Journal
of Ethnic and Migration Studies 44, no. 10 (2018): 1691-1705, https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2017.1354058.
153 Djibouti: Requirements and procedure to follow to obtain a national identity card, including identity documents required, the authorities who issue them, the
validity period and the circumstances in which they are used in Djibouti (2014-June 2016), 31 August 2016, D/1105552.FE, available at:
https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a5aaf44.html.
154 ‘Carte d'Identité Nationale’, https://www.egouv.dj/sousmenu/sousmenu
selected
article/Services/7/9
155 Loi N° 39/AN/19/8eme L portant identification des personnes physiques, création du numéro national d’identification et établissement d’un registre national,
21 janvier 2019,
art.2.
156 Ihid., art. 12.
157 thid., art. 3.
158 Djibouti: Requirements and procedures to obtain a passport, including circumstances under which consent is required by another adult; information
indicated by the field marked "domicile"; appearance of regular passports (2015-April 2017), 18 April 2017, D/1105789.E, available at:
https://www.refworld.org/docid/592018854.html
UNHCR
— December 2021