CITIZENSHIP AND STATELESSNESS IN THE MEMBER STATES OF THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY 2020 nationality). In Botswana, the introduction of a new computerised passport system in 2011 found some who had previously been recognised as Botswanan suddenly denied the right to renew their passports unless they renounced another nationality that they had never claimed.372 Bazezuru descendants of followers of a religious sect who came to Botswana from Zimbabwe in the 1950s, faced what was described as a “citizenship crisis” in their efforts to acquire Botswanan identity cards and passports.373 Dual citizenship is not allowed in Botswana, and the authorities administering the identity card system required proof of renunciation of Zimbabwean citizenship before giving them Botswanan documents— though they had never sought Zimbabwean citizenship and, indeed, would have difficulties gaining recognition of Zimbabwean citizenship in order to renounce it. In Botswana, a birth certificate is proof of citizenship374, which has meant that, though government ministers urged the community to register all births, the Bazezuru struggled to obtain this most basic of documents, preventing their children from accessing education.375 More often, there is a simple refusal to issue a document on the basis that a person is potentially the citizen of another state, rather than the formal requirement to renounce another potential nationality (which at least provides an administrative route to resolve the situation). The probability of refusal will rise if birth registration rules prevent single parents from registering a birth, meaning that the most authoritative evidence of the connection to a parent who is a national is missing (see above: Birth registration). Stateless former wife and daughter of a Congolese national Wang Ying Hui was born in China in 1961 and had Chinese nationality at birth. She trained as a nurse, and she met and married a Congolese (at that time, Zairian) medical doctor working in China. They registered their marriage in China in 1991, but not with the Congolese authorities. In 1993, they had their first and only child, born in China. The relationship broke down, and Ms Wang lost touch with her former husband. The Chinese-registered marriage was dissolved by a court ruling in China in 2016, in the absence of her former husband. Ms Wang never lived in DRC, but in 1993, while visiting Kinshasa, her husband arranged for her to be issued with a Zairian passport. China does not permit dual nationality, and accordingly the Chinese authorities assert that Ms Wang’s nationality was lost upon obtaining a Congolese passport. She was thus obliged to obtain a visa as a foreigner whenever she visited China. However, for some years she was able to renew her Zairian/DRC passport at the embassy in China, and travel with it. Since 2009 Ms Wang has been living and working in Japan, with her daughter. She has not, however, been able to renew her last Congolese passport, which expired in 2011. Ms Wang’s daughter was issued with a DRC passport by the DRC embassy in China in 2002, but the embassies in China and Japan refused renewal on expiry of her most recent passport in 2011. Information provided by UNHCR Kinshasa; name has been changed. 372 Lawrence Seretse, “Thousands of Batswana become foreigners overnight”, Mmegi (Gaborone), 18 November 2011. See also Francis B. Nyamnjoh, “Local Attitudes towards Citizenship and Foreigners in Botswana: An Appraisal of Recent Press Stories”, Journal of Southern African Studies 28, no. 4 (2002): 755–75. 373 Members of the same church faced similar problems in Kenya; see Manby, “Citizenship and Statelessness in the East African Community”. 374 Children’s Act No.8 of 2009, sec. 12(3): “A birth certificate issued by the Registrar of Births under [the Births and Deaths Registration Act] shall be proof of the nationality of the child.” Births and Deaths Registration Act, No.48 of 1968, as amended to 1998, sec. 10(2): “Every such certificate [of birth, stillbirth or death] shall, in all courts of law and public offices within Botswana, be prima facie evidence of the particulars set forth therein.” 375 “Commissioner urges Bazezuru to register”, BOPA, 29 February 2012; Goitsemodimo Williams, “Bazezuru want minister’s intervention”, Botswana Daily News, 9 January 2013; Sesupo Rantsimako, “Bazezuru still in citizenship predicament”, Botswana Gazette, 6 February 2014. UNHCR / December, 2020 88