CITIZENSHIP AND STATELESSNESS IN THE MEMBER STATES OF THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY 2020 were given a five year period during which they could opt for Namibian citizenship. The possibility of registering as a Namibian citizen was revived in 2015 for an additional ten years, subject to renunciation of any other citizenship.325 The Namibian government has reached out to those who had not applied within the earlier time limits.326 Economic citizenship’ in Comoros A controversial “Law on Economic Citizenship” promulgated by Comoros in 2008 provided for the possibility of acquiring citizenship by “economic partners” of the government.327 The law has been invoked mainly for the grant of Comoros passports to stateless persons, known as Bidoon (from bidoon jinsiyya, “without nationality”), resident in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait, whose governments paid for them to take up this option.328 According to the parliamentary commission of inquiry into this procedure, the objective of the agreement with the UAE was the naturalisation of around 4,000 Bidoon families over two years, for which the Comorian state would receive US$200 million, as well as various investments in infrastructure projects – while former President Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi was alleged to have received US$105 million, and the broker of this deal, Bashar Kiwan, USD$29 million.329 Under this agreement, a team of officials was sent to Abu Dhabi to enrol stateless Bidoon, many of them former soldiers, but including children; those registered were chosen by the Emirati authorities. A total of 41,604 people were listed in naturalisation decrees granting “economic citizenship” signed by President Sambi from January 2009 to May 2011, and by his successor President lkililou Dhoinine from 2011 to 2016.330 It seems likely that none of these beneficiaries had any actual or potential status as an investor. An additional 6,039 ordinary passports were issued by the Belgian company SEMLEX responsible for their supply, without formal naturalisation decrees.331 The vast majority of passports were issued to Bidoon from UAE, but 560 were issued to Bidoon from Kuwait – though reportedly Kuwait wished to obtain Comorian passports for 110,000 Bidoon resident within its territory.332 A further 102 diplomatic passports were issued to those involved in the economic citizenship programme (including Bashar Kiwan), “fiscal refugees”, Iranians affected by US sanctions, and various businessmen sought by Interpol or the authorities of their own country.333 Leaving aside the obvious concerns over corruption highlighted by the Comorian parliamentary inquiry, which recommended the cancellation of all passports issued under the scheme, it is clear that – unlike the 325 Namibian Citizenship (Second) Special Conferment Act, No.6 of 2015. 326 Esther Mmolai, “Official Explains Citizenship Renunciation Procedures”, Botswana Daily News, 24 September 2019. 327 Loi n°08-014/AU relative à la citoyenneté économique en Union des Comores, promulgué par le Décret n°08-138/PR du 13/12/2008. 328 Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, “The Bizarre Scheme to Transform a Remote Island into the New Dubai”, The Guardian, 11 November 2015; David Lewis and Philippe Engels, “Special Report: How to make millions selling passports to Africa”, Reuters, 22 December 2017; Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, Cosmopolites: What It Is like to Be a Citizen of the World (New York: Columbia Global Reports, 2015). 329 “Rapport de la Commission d’enquête parlementaire sur la loi relative à la citoyenneté économique”, Parlement des Comores, December 2017, pp.9, 13. 330 Ibid., pp.37-40. 331 Ibid., p.44. 332 Ibid., p.53. 333 Ibid., pp.44-46; see also “As US Sanctions Bit, Iranian Executives Bought African Passports”, Reuters, 29 June 2018. UNHCR / December, 2020 79