With their father’s birth certificate, his history of succession of cartes de séjour, and a recent Burkinabè consular card, the brothers can obtain biometric Burkinabè consular cards. The eldest brother, however, remains profoundly disappointed that he cannot acquire Ivorian nationality through the declaration program. Although he is a Burkinabè national, he has not applied for a biometric Burkinabè consular card because he still hopes to acquire Ivorian nationality. As he explained, he feels Ivorian, considers himself Ivorian and wants to be Ivorian.170 This discussion of the program for acquisition of Ivorian nationality by declaration underscores that no generalized conclusions can be drawn with respect to how it will impact reduction of statelessness in Côte d’Ivoire, unless an individual analysis is done pertaining to each applicant’s background. Furthermore, it even suggests that the program’s evidentiary requirements, including the necessity for applicants to produce a birth certificate or jugement supplétif, limited the potential impact in extending Ivorian nationality to those who qualify for it, as well as in reducing statelessness. As a program adopted to implement a goal set out in the Linas-Marcoussis Agreement endorsed by all Ivorian political actors at the time, the program is admirable in correcting the historical injustice according to which historical migrants have been unable to acquire Ivorian nationality in accordance with the law, as was their right during the window available to them from December 1961 to January 1973. 5.1.3. The case of those naturalized by collective decree in 1995 and their descendants The 8,133 inhabitants of the Mossi “colonial villages” who acquired Ivorian nationality through collective naturalization decree signed by Bédié in 1995171 merit special consideration as to their historical and contemporary experiences with nationality and stateless. The acquisition of Ivorian nationality for these individuals and their descendants became effective upon the publication of the collective naturalization Decree No. 95-809 published in the complementary edition of the Official Journal on 6 January 1996.172 This edition of the Official Journal listed the names of each concerned individual, indicating their date of birth and the names of their parents. Pursuant to Article 45 of the Nationality Code, all unmarried minor children of individuals named in the 1995 decree, as published in the Official Journal, were to acquire subsidiary Ivorian nationality by naturalization, even if their names did not figure in the decree and Official Journal, provided that filiation can be established.173 Given the xenophobic environment from the late 1990s throughout the 2000s and discrimination against perceived foreigners, many of those included in the 1995 collective naturalization decree and their descendants faced great difficulties in proving their Ivorian nationality in practice. Many applied for, but were denied national ID cards. Others turned to the courts, some of which refused them nationality certificates. Those who obtained nationality that descendants of all three categories can benefit from the special declaration program. Yet Circulaire Interministérielle No. 6 MJDHLP/MEMIS du 27 mars 2014 departs from the law and decree and designates only the descendants of the first category, namely persons born in Côte d’Ivoire to foreign parents aged less than 21 on 20 December 1961, as beneficiaries of this program. 170 Note that this man and his brothers could apply to acquire Ivorian nationality through naturalization with the reduced residency requirement having been born in Côte d’Ivoire. Asked if they would do so, they cited the high costs of the procedure and hopelessness given that no one they knew who applied from 2005 to 2007 under the special naturalization program were unsuccessful. 171 See discussion supra in note 16. 172 Decree No. 95-809, supra note 30. 173 However, minor children can only acquire nationality under this provision through their fathers or widowed mothers. See discussion in Section 3.2.6 above. 47