Statelessness and Nationality in Côte d’Ivoire Mirna Adjami Table of Contents Methodology and Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................... 2 Executive Summary................................................................................................................................. 3 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 5 1.1. Nationality and statelessness in Côte d’Ivoire: what’s at stake? ............................................ 5 1.2. What is “statelessness?” ......................................................................................................... 6 1.3. Côte d’Ivoire’s international obligations on nationality and statelessness............................. 7 2. Political and Migration Context of Côte d’Ivoire ............................................................................. 7 2.1. Defining elements of Houphouët-Boigny’s immigration and integration policies .................. 7 2.2. Turbulent decades: the rise of Ivoirité, instability, civil war, and political compromise ....... 10 2.3. Contemporary stabilization of Côte d’Ivoire’s migrant and foreign populations ................. 13 3. Analysis of Côte d’Ivoire’s Nationality Laws and their Implementation in Practice ..................... 14 3.1. The 1961 Nationality Code and an overview of its evolution ............................................... 14 3.1.1. Nationality by origin....................................................................................................... 15 3.1.2. Who is a “foreigner?” .................................................................................................... 16 3.1.3. Two avenues for integrating “foreigners” and their descendants into the Ivorian citizenry.......................................................................................................................... 17 3.1.4. Overview of Nationality Code amendments and special nationality programs ............ 18 3.2. Côte d’Ivoire’s contemporary nationality laws and their implementation in practice ......... 20 3.2.1. Nationality by origin....................................................................................................... 21 3.2.2. Acquisition of nationality as a matter of right: adoption or marriage .......................... 22 3.2.3. Acquisition of nationality by declaration ....................................................................... 22 3.2.4. Acquisition of nationality by decision of public authority: naturalization and reacquisition of Ivorian nationality ................................................................................ 23 3.2.5. Common requirements and effects of acquisition of nationality.................................. 25 3.2.6. Subsidiary acquisition of nationality by children of parents who acquire Ivorian nationality ...................................................................................................................... 26 3.2.7. Dual nationality .............................................................................................................. 27 3.2.8. Loss and renunciation of nationality ............................................................................. 28 3.2.9. Deprivation of nationality .............................................................................................. 29 3.2.10. Proving nationality before Ivorian courts and certificates of nationality ...................... 29 3.2.11. Statelessness safeguards and compliance with the statelessness conventions ........... 30 3.2.12. Remaining gender inequalities in the Nationality Code ................................................ 32 4. Legal Frameworks on Civil Status and Identification and their Interplay with Nationality Laws.. 33 4.1. Birth registration and civil status........................................................................................... 34 4.1.1. The legal framework on civil status ............................................................................... 34 4.1.2. Practical challenges related to birth registration and civil status.................................. 36 4.1.3. Ordinance facilitating registration of births and deaths from the crisis period ............ 37 4.2. Personal identification of nationals and foreigners in Côte d’Ivoire ..................................... 38 4.2.1. Compromises on identification in the crisis-recovery process 2007-2010.................... 38 4.2.2. Towards normalization of the identification system? ................................................... 40 5. Profiles of Stateless Persons and Groups at Risk of Statelessness................................................ 41 5.1. Historical migrants and their descendants ............................................................................ 41 5.1.1. Nationality concerns for Burkinabè, Malian, and Guinean migrants ............................ 41 1