CITIZENSHIP AND STATELESSNESS IN THE MEMBER STATES OF THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY 2020 depend on there being no contrary mention in the birth registration, and would thus depend on late registration of birth for foundlings.74 The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has expressed its concern about these gaps, for example, noting in the case of Lesotho that foundlings who appear to have been born in the State party were not being provided with citizenship even if they would otherwise be stateless.75 In October 2019, at the ‘High-Level Segment on Statelessness’ hosted by UNHCR in Geneva, Comoros, Eswatini76, Lesotho, and Malawi all committed to the introduction of legal reforms to provide protections against statelessness for children of unknown parents found in the territory, and for children born in the territory who would otherwise be stateless; Namibia pledged the introduction of protection for children of unknown parents.77 In Malawi the Law Commission is indeed conducting a review of the Citizenship Act to bring the provisions into line with Malawi’s international obligations.78 Children of stateless parents or who would otherwise be stateless Like the presumption of nationality for foundlings, protection in international law against statelessness for children of parents who are stateless or whose nationality is unknown also dates back to 1930.79 More recent treaties have reinforced this right. The 1961 Convention specifies that a child born in the territory who would otherwise be stateless should acquire the nationality of the state of birth. This protection is repeated in article 6(4) of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Few states in Africa have such a safeguard in their nationality legislation. However, in southern Africa, Angola, DRC, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, and South Africa have an explicit provision that provides at least some level of protection for stateless persons born in their territory. Angola provides that a child of stateless parents, or parents whose own nationality is unknown, or who would otherwise be stateless has the right to request nationality.80 DRC provides that the child born in Congo of parents “with the status of stateless person” is Congolese, as are those who cannot acquire nationality of their parents because their law recognises only jus soli attribution, or discriminates on the basis of birth in or out of wedlock.81 Mozambique, where the general rights based on jus soli already provide substantial protection against statelessness, the constitution also provides that a child of stateless parents 74 Decreto 3/75 da 16 da Agosto, amended 1988, art.4. 75 UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding observations on the second periodic report of Lesotho, CRC/C/LSO/CO/2, 25 June 2018, para. 24. 76 Eswatini, however, already has protection in law for children of unknown parents, so it is not clear why the pledge was necessary. 77 Results of the High-Level Segment on Statelessness, October 2019, https://www.unhcr.org/ibelong/results-of-the-high-level-segment-on-statelessness/ 78 “Malawi’s Citizenship Act to conform to democratic principles, other laws”, Maravi Post, 11 April 2019. 79 Convention on Certain Questions Relating to the Conflict of Nationality Laws, The Hague, 1930, art. 15. 80 Lei No.2/16 de 15 de avril, art. 15; Decreto Presidencial n.º 152/17, de 4 de Julho, regulamento da Lei da nacionalidade, art. 4. See Jerónimo, “Report on Citizenship Law: Angola”. 81 23 Loi no. 04/024 du 12 novembre 2004 relative à la nationalité congolaise, art.9. UNHCR / December, 2020