borders, and focused on the delimitation and exercise of administrative power during the colonial period (and the dissolution in 1932 and reconstitution in 1947 of the French colony of Upper Volta), without considering any evidence related to the wishes of those living in the territory affected. Their nationality was presumed to be allocated with the territory itself. Two other cases more recently decided by the ICJ relate to boundaries between Niger and its neighbours. In 2002, Benin and Niger jointly referred to the court the disputed ownership of 25 islands along a 150 km stretch of the River Niger where it forms the border between the two countries. The largest island, Lété, is “fertile, with rich pastures, and is permanently inhabited; according to information supplied by Niger, its population numbered some 2,000 in the year 2000”.231 In its ruling of 2005 the ICJ awarded Niger sovereignty over 16 of the islands, including Lété, the remainder going to Benin. The judgment contained no commentary or ruling on the nationality status of the populations currently living in or using the resources of the islands.232 The two groups affected by the decision are, first, the Fulani nomads who have traditionally moved from one country to the other with their livestock, many of whom have no nationality documentation from either of the countries (but who have paid taxes to both); and, secondly, the fishermen and agriculturalists who live on the islands for some or all of the year. One of the islands allocated to Benin, the Ile aux oiseaux, is occupied temporarily during the dry season — but the inhabitants relocate to one side of the river or the other (Niger or Benin) when the island is flooded. The semi-nomadic nature of the populations makes their documentation difficult since they have no settled residence; many have no identity papers, and no access to public services. A community that had moved to Benin when Lété island (allocated to Niger) was flooded in 2012, have been accommodated in a village in Karimama commune — tellingly named Sabon Gari (“strangers’ quarter”) — but Beninois nationality has not been offered or confirmed; and a large percentage also have no birth registration. One of them commented: “Because no country recognises us, we live as if we were in prison”; without documents they are subjected to extortion from the security forces of both countries.233 After several decades of failed attempts to finalise the line between their two states, Burkina Faso and Niger referred their border dispute to the ICJ in 2010; in 2013, the court handed down its judgement. In its ruling determining the boundary, the ICJ expressed its wish that “each Party, in exercising its authority over the portion of the territory under its sovereignty, should have due regard to the needs of the populations concerned, in particular those of the nomadic or semi-nomadic populations, and to the necessity to overcome difficulties that may arise for them because of the frontier.”234 In a separate opinion, Judge Cançado Trindade elaborated on concerns with the local populations,235 also welcoming the common concern expressed by Burkina Faso and Niger for the local populations (on both sides of their border and constantly moving across it), focusing on territory and their inhabitants together. But there was no specific ruling or expression of views on the nationality of those affected by the judgment; it being presumed that nationality would transfer with the transfer of territory. 231 Frontier Dispute (Benin/Niger), ICJ Judgment of 12 July 2005, paragraph 19. See also, “BENIN-NIGER: International Court rules that main disputed island belongs to Niger not Benin”, IRIN, 12 July 2005. 233 Information and interview from UNHCR mission to the region, May 2014. 234 Frontier Dispute (Burkina Faso/Niger), ICJ Judgment of 16 April 2013, paragraph 112. 235 Frontier Dispute (Burkina Faso/Niger), Opinion of Judge Cançado Trindade. 232 70