CITIZENSHIP AND STATELESSNESS IN THE HORN OF AFRICA \Y and Ethiopia’s action in denying recognition of its nationality to the dual nationals had been arbitrary and unlawful.266 This was not the interpretation of the Ethiopian government, however. In July 1999, authorities issued a press release stating that the Ethiopians of Eritrean origin who vote in the 1993 referendum on Eritrea’s independence Ethiopian nationality law does not permit dual had thus assumed the Ethiopian had registered to Eritrean citizenship. nationality, the consequence was that they Since had lost Ethiopian nationality. A 2002 law which bestowed special rights and privileges on “foreign nationals of Ethiopian origin’, singled out Eritreans who had forfeited Ethiopian nationality and expressly excluded them from enjoying the new rights and privileges.2°” The new Ethiopian Proclamation on Ethiopian Nationality adopted in 2003 eased the situation of those of mixed parentage, by removing gender discrimination in transmission to spouses and children, allowing those of with Ethiopian mothers and fathers of Eritrean origin to claim citizenship for the first time.26® The immigration authorities also adopted nationals living in Ethiopia.2° a directive on the residence status of Eritrean According to the directive, Eritrean nationals could apply for permanent residence in Ethiopia; a person of Eritrean origin who had “not opted for Eritrean nationality” (that is, by registering to vote in the referendum) was to be deemed to retain Ethiopian nationality. Problems continued to be reported in obtaining national identification cards.2”° Among those affected by these issues were individuals who had been expelled from Ethiopia to Eritrea in 1998 but had since then fled Eritrea’s highly repressive government and returned to Ethiopia. Though it should have been possible for them to reacquire Ethiopian citizenship under the law (see above, heading on Renunciation and reacquisition), it was reported that none of those who applied were successful.?”! Ethiopians of Eritrean origin in other countries were also unable to reacquire Ethiopian documents.?”2 There is little reporting of the current situation. However, although Eritrean-Ethiopians are the bestknown group at risk of statelessness, the kebele identity card system creates similar problems for other communities. Those facing such difficulties include members of groups that were forcibly moved during the Derg era, and minorities that are dispersed across geography.2”5 266 See also Sean D. Murphy, Won Kidane, and Thomas R. Snider, Litigating War: Arbitration of Civil Injury by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 311-19. 267 Proclamation to Provide Foreign Nationals of Ethiopian Origin with Certain Rights to be Exercised in their Country of Origin (270/2002), 5 February 2002. 268 Proclamation 378/2003 on Ethiopian Nationality, sections 3, 5, 6 and 18. 269 Directive issued to determine the residence status of Eritrean nationals residing in Ethiopia, 2004, available at https://www.refworld.org/docid/48abd56c0. html. 270 Maureen Lynch and Katherine Southwick, ‘Ethiopia-Eritrea: Stalemate Takes Toll on Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean Origin’ (Washington, D.C.: Refugees International, 30 May 2008). See also Katherine Southwick, ‘Ethiopia-Eritrea: Statelessness and State Succession’, Forced Migration Review 32 (April 2009): 15-17. 271 Amsale Getnet Aberra, “Ethiopians in Limbo: from statelessness to being a refugee in one’s own country”, ECADF Ethiopian News, 14 February 2014. 272 See, for example, Louise Thomas, ‘Refugees and Asylum Seekers from Mixed Eritrean-Ethiopian Families in Cairo’ (Cairo: Programme for Forced Migration and Refugee Studies, American University in Cairo, June 2006). 273 Fiseha, ‘Ethiopia’s Experiment in Accommodating Diversity’. UNHCR — December 2021 61