CITIZENSHIP AND STATELESSNESS IN THE HORN OF AFRICA \74 commitments on the issue of identity documents).*'® The Beni-Amer are found in both Eritrea and Sudan, along the Red Sea coast.?'” There is an almost total lack of international law or national precedent relating to the determination of the nationality of those whose lifestyles mean that place of birth is not registered, nor likely to be in the same place as members of the wider family, while “habitual residence” is hard to determine.?'® As noted above, the transitional provisions provided Somaliland citizenship at the date of independence by the British ordinance on acquisition of in 1960 was one of the few examples anywhere of an attempt to acknowledge these issues. Although place of birth was important for automatic acquisition of citizenship, a person who “normally resided” in Somaliland was given the right to apply for citizenship if not qualified for automatic acquisition. And “normally reside” was defined to include “a person who from time to time temporarily absents himself from the territory for the purposes of grazing or herding livestock or in pursuit of his vocation, occupation, employment or education or for recreation.”*'9 The current nationality law provides for Somaliland citizenship to be attributed to the descendants through the male line of pre-1960 residents of the territory,2?° a definition which potentially encompasses this Original transitional provision. As always, however, questions of proof are complex, and the status of those with connections to two territories (for example, Somaliland and Puntland, or Somaliland and Ethiopia) remains often unresolved.2?' This is also true in the other countries of the region. In Ethiopia, if a Somali-Ethiopian applies for a passport, a kebele ID will not be sufficient, as it is for members of ethnic groups traditionally found only in Ethiopia. The applicant will in addition need confirmation from a committee sitting in Jijiga, the capital of the Somali region, that he or she is Ethiopian.2? Pastoralist livelinood vulnerability is increasing, under threat from climate change, changing land tenure and increasing pressure on land, breakdown of traditional governance structures, the proliferation of weapons, and the conflict that has afflicted Somalia in particular over the past three decades.?23 In this 216 Accord de paix et de réconciliation nationale, Djibouti, Journal Officiel Spécial No.1 du 26 décembre 1994; Accord de reforme et de concorde civile, Journal Officiel Spécial No.3 du 15 mai 2001. Both discussed in Simon Imbert-Vier, ‘Identifier les nationaux a Djibouti (1946-2004)’, Le Mouvement Social 273, no. 4 (2020): 129-45. 217 Johnathan B. Bascom, ‘Border Pastoralism in Eastern Sudan’, Geographical Review 80, no. 4 (1990): 416, https://doi.org/10.2307/215850. 218 UNHCR recommends that: “in cases where it is difficult to determine whether an individual is habitually resident in one or another State, for example due to a nomadic way of life, such persons are to be considered as habitual residents in both States.” UNHCR, Guidelines on Statelessness No. 4, paragraph 42. 2139 Somaliland Nationality and Citizenship Ordinance No.15 of 1960, 23 June 1960. 220 Somaliland Citizenship Law No.22 of 2002, art.2(1): “A Somaliland citizen by birth is anyone whose father is a descendent of persons who resided in the territory of Somaliland on 26 June 1960 and before.” 221 Rader, ‘Verification and Legibility in Somaliland’s Identity Architecture’, 108-9. 222 According to research carried out for UNHCR in 2009, the members of this body at that time included representatives of the Federal Immigration and Nationality Affairs Department, and the regional police and security departments. Ato Getachew Assefa, Ato Seyoum Yohannes and Ato Wondwossen Demissie, “Statelessness in Ethiopia” Draft Study for UNHCR, March 2010. 223 ibid.; see also Sara Pavanello,’Pastoralists’ vulnerability in the Horn of Africa: Exploring political marginalisation, donors’ policies and cross-border issues — Literature review’, Overseas Development Institute, London, 2009 https://odi.org/en/publications/pastoralists-vulnerability-in-the-horn-of-africa-exploringpolitical-marginalisation-donors-policies-and-cross-border-issues/. 52 UNHCR — December 2021