CITIZENSHIP AND STATELESSNESS IN THE HORN OF AFRICA 4 A note on terminology’ “Nationality”, “citizenship”, and “stateless person” In international law, nationality and citizenship are now used as synonyms, to describe a particular legal relationship between the state and the individual; the terms can be used interchangeably in English, though “nationality” is more commonly used in international treaties. Neither term has any connotation of ethnic or racial content, but is simply the status that gives a person certain rights and obligations in relation to a particular state. Other disciplines, such as political science or sociology, have different ways of using the terms in other contexts. And even in law, different languages have different usages at national level. British common have different nuances, and different legal traditions In national law, “citizenship” is the term used by lawyers in the law tradition to describe this legal bond, and the rules adopted at national level by which it is decided whether a person does or does not have the right to legal membership of that state and the status of a person who is a member. Nationality can be used in the same sense, but tends to be more restricted to international law contexts. meanwhile, nationalité or nacionalidade describe the legal bond between In the French, Belgian and Portuguese civil law traditions, is the term used at both international and national levels to a person and a political entity, and the rules for membership of the community. This report will use citizenship and nationality according to the terms used in the national context, and (in general) nationality at the international level. The 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons provides the international definition of “stateless person”: “a person who is not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law” (Article 1(1)). UNHCR notes that determining whether a person is stateless is a “mixed question of fact and law” (Handbook on the Protection of Stateless Persons, paragraph 23), and thus a person may be stateless even if apparently entitled to citizenship, because they cannot prove the relevant facts. In its discussions around the development of a protocol to the African Charter on Human Rights on the Specific Aspects of the Right to a Nationality and the Eradication Africa, the African on Commission Human and Peoples’ Rights proposed and Peoples’ of Statelessness in clarifying this definition to confirm that the definition includes a person who is unable to establish a nationality in practice. Although stateless people may also be refugees, most stateless persons have never crossed a border. The terminology of nationality law Most people obtain a nationality at birth, by operation of law. Nationality attributed at birth by operation of law is generally termed “nationality of origin” (nationalité d’origine) in civil law countries; while in the common law countries the term used may be citizenship by birth (if born in the country) or a citizenship by descent (if born outside the country). This dual terminology in the common law states derives from 1 This section is substantially the same as versions published in previous reports by the same author for UNHCR on statelessness in West, East and Southern Africa. iii UNHCR — December 2021