CITIZENSHIP AND STATELESSNESS IN THE MEMBER STATES OF THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY 2020 Border populations Among the groups placed at risk of statelessness by Africa’s borders are those ethnic groups whose traditional territory has been bisected by a new international border. This is a problem that is not at all unique to Africa, but perhaps arises with particular frequency in the African continent. In addition to the confusion caused by the splitting of communities with extended family members on both sides of a border, border regions are often remote, and most likely to have low levels of birth registration and other documentation. Mixed marriages, of a national and a non-national, are of course particularly likely in border regions, and the children of these marriages are at particular risk of statelessness if neither state permits dual nationality. Statelessness among these populations is sometimes being revealed or made more important by new identification systems: these systems create vetting processes to ensure that those who are not entitled do not obtain identity documents confirming nationality from the state of residence; but they have no process in place to ensure that the person is in fact confirmed to be the national of the other country. Problems of this type were reported to an investigation by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission during hearings in 2019, and to the Zimbabwe Parliament, including along the borders with South Africa, Botswana, and Mozambique. Those believed by the authorities to have a potential connection to the other state were required to “renounce” that citizenship even if they had never held or sought such documents.376 Similar problems exist along Botswana’s borders both with Zimbabwe and Angola, where those seeking a national ID are told that they are not eligible because they said to be dual citizens who had not renounced the other citizenship.377 Tanzania’s mass enrolment of residents for its new national identity population register and identity card has (as in other countries with new population registers) revealed groups whose status is seen as doubtful and may be at risk of statelessness. Examples include the Mkinga and Rombo-Kilimanjaro districts, on the border between Tanzania and Kenya; the Mbeya region, bordering Malawi; and the Kagera region, which shares borders with Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi.378 The Prime Minister defended the “stringent” vetting procedures in border regions on the grounds that national security was at stake.379 However, no procedures were established to determine if those affected in fact held any other nationality. Some states have undertaken steps to register or confirm the nationality of long term residents and those in border regions, including Namibia (see above: Naturalisation of long-term migrants and their descendants). A joint study by the Mozambican consulate in Malawi, the Malawian Dept of Immigration and UNHCR was conducted in districts along the borders between Malawi and Mozambique in 2012, to assess the risk of statelessness and plan efforts to resolve the status of those resident in Malawi.380 376 Simbarashe Sithole, “ZHRC engages Mash Central residents on access to documentation”, Newsday (Harare) 5 August 2019; Cletus Mushanawani, “ID nightmare for border communities”, The Herald (Harare), 13 August 2019; “Acquisition of identity documents still a challenge in Zimbabwe”, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), 8 October 2019; “Report on The Gwanda Community Youth Development Trust Petition on Access to Primary Documents”. 377 Thamani Shabani, “Ministry to Investigate Matshelagabedi”, Botswana Daily News, 14 October 2019; Portia Ikgopoleng, “Citizenship Appeal Cases Common in Border Villages”, Botswana Daily News, 17 October 2019. 378 Information by email from UNHCR and from Dignity Kwanza, Dar es Salaam, April 2020; “Govt Urged to Extend SIM Card Registration Deadline”, Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam), 27 December 2019. 379 “Majaliwa: Hakuna mtanzania atakayekosa kitambulisho cha taifa”, United Republic of Tanzania Prime Minister’s Office, 21 February 2020 available at https://www.pmo.go.tz/index.php/news/pmnews/382-majaliwa-hakuna-mtanzania-atakayekosa-kitambulisho-cha-taifa; “PM: Tight ID card filing in border regions right”, The Guardian / IPPMedia (Dar es Salaam), 22 February 2020. 380 Information from UNHCR Southern Africa bureau, April 2020. UNHCR / December, 2020 89