AHMR African Human Mobilty Review - Volume 8 No 3, SEP-DEC 2022 but are stateless despite having been in the country for multiple generations. Most are Muslim. When Madagascar gained independence from France in 1960, the nationality laws distinguished between those who were automatically Malagasy at birth and those required to apply. Non-French foreigners in the country were not granted citizenship and were left stateless.14 The Karana were not considered ethnically Malagasy so were generally not given citizenship. Most of the estimated 20,000 Karana are believed to be stateless despite being born in Madagascar and never knowing any other homes.15 The US Department of State indicated that up to 5% of the country’s two million Muslims are stateless. In 2021, Madagascar had a total population of approximately 28.4 million.16 Other ethnic and religious minorities are similarly affected, including people of Chinese, Comorian, and mixed descent.17 Many have attempted to gain citizenship but have been denied or have faced discriminatory administrative practices. Even those who legally qualify, in practice face many obstacles in accessing nationality and are not considered nationals. Reports have emerged that Muslim-sounding names have been sufficient to deny a citizen application. People have claimed that officials will arbitrarily request non-existent proof that an individual is Malagasy, despite the presentation of all required documents if their names ‘sound’ foreign or if they suspect a person of not being Malagasy. Statelessness has been passed on through generations among the Karana. Karana living in Madagascar are forced to pay for, obtain, and maintain residency permits that describe their nationality as ‘undetermined’. People have also cited high levels of corruption, a lack of access, a lack of awareness, and limited judicial oversight as barriers to gaining documents, even if they qualify. While a lack of documentation has led to exclusion, hardship, and poverty for some, the Karana are still considered wealthy and powerful and contribute substantially to Madagascar — close to onethird of GDP.18 Preventing them from citizenship stymies economic development for the whole country as it discourages these same people from investing in growth. Until 2017, only children born to Malagasy fathers were granted citizenship. Mothers were unable to confer citizenship to their children. Children born in marriage to Malagasy mothers and non-Malagasy fathers were not granted citizenship and had to apply, unless statelessness could be proven, which was exceptionally difficult to prove. Married women were only allowed to pass on nationality in very limited circumstances. As a result, many couples have avoided marriage as a means of Focus Development Association ‘Global campaign for equal nationality rights and institute on statelessness and inclusion’ Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council at the 34th Session of the Universal Periodic Review (2019), available at https://files.institutesi.org/ UPR34_Madagascar.pdf 15 Markku Aikomus ‘Madagascar’s Karana people still awaiting nationality’ UNHCR (2017), available at www.unhcr.org/ news/stories/2017/11/5a018ff44/%20madagascars-karana-people-still-awaiting-nationality.html 16 World Bank ‘Madagascar’, available at https://data.worldbank.org/country/madagascar, accessed on 28 November 2022. 17 Equal Rights Trust ‘My children’s future: Ending discrimination in nationality laws’ (2015), available at www. equalrightstrust.org/resources/my-childrens-future-ending-gender-discrimination-nationality-laws 18 Caroline McInerney ‘Accessing Malagasy citizenship: The nationality code and its impact on the Karana’ (2014) Tillburg Law Review. 14 88