CITIZENSHIP AND STATELESSNESS IN THE MEMBER STATES OF THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY 2020 recognition of nationality, if a birth was not registered in another country and the parents and/or child then return to their state of nationality. The usual rule is that consular registration depends on the child’s birth first being registered in the country of birth, and the information in that birth certificate is then transcribed into the records of the country of origin of the parent(s); in some cases only consular registration is needed. The requirements may not always be apparent on a simple reading of the nationality law. In Angola, although the constitution and law provide that a child of an Angolan is automatically attributed nationality at birth whether born in or outside of Angola (with an option to renounce at majority if born outside), the regulations establish that this is dependent on registration of the birth in the country of birth or with the consular authorities, and that at least one of the parents must present an identity card.255 Requirements for consular registration place immediate challenges in the path of those whose parents were refugees at the time of their birth, and who could jeopardise their refugee status by approaching the embassy. Even in case of those who have not formally sought asylum, the embassy may be completely inaccessible for cost or other reasons, especially for those who have no regular status in the country of residence (and whose access to a birth certificate from the country of birth may therefore also be difficult). At the most basic level, there may be no consulate for the state of the parent(s)’ nationality in the country of the child’s birth, meaning that travel to another country would be required, with costs and other challenges that may be insurmountable (especially if the parent has no valid identity document). Conflicts of law create other challenges: depending on the law in effect in either country in relation to attribution of nationality at birth, children may be left stateless or with a nationality they do not want. In case of refugees, UNHCR advises that refugee children and their parents be given the possibility to decide for themselves which nationality they wish to retain.256 There is very little research available about the impact of these rules in African states, but difficulties in accessing consular services to renew parental identity documents and transcribe the birth certificate of a child by the country of birth into the records in the country of origin, or separately carry out such registration (for states where this is possible), clearly creates risks of future statelessness.257 These difficulties are greatest for those children whose parents are in irregular migration status in the country of birth; and it is these births that are also least likely to be registered by the country of birth. In southern Africa, the UN treaty bodies have noted these problems in recent years. The Committee on the Rights of Migrant Workers expressed its concern to Lesotho in 2016 that, “as the number of Basotho migrant workers migrating to South Africa increases, children born to these migrant workers are at risk of statelessness as there is no mechanism to ensure systematic consular birth registration.”258 Similarly, the 255 Angola Constitution 2010, art. 9; Lei 2/2016, art. 9; Regulamento 152/17 de 4 de julho, art. 4. See also Jerónimo, “Report on Citizenship Law: Angola”, 23. 256 UNHCR, Guidelines on Statelessness No. 4: Ensuring Every Child’s Right to Acquire a Nationality through Articles 1-4 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, HCR/GS/12/04, 21 December 2012, paras.27-28 257 For comparative information for migrants in North Africa, see Bronwen Manby, “Preventing Statelessness among Migrants and Refugees: Birth Registration and Consular Assistance in Egypt and Morocco” (London: LSE Middle East Centre, July 2019), http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/101091/. 258 Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, Concluding observations on the initial report of Lesotho, CMW/C/LSO/CO/1, 23 May 2016, paragraph 37. UNHCR / December, 2020 68