Cassadee Orinthia YAN International Comparative Jurisprudence. 2024, 10(1):94-111. 4.2. The Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act of 2011 This act provides several channels for becoming a Kenyan citizen. Sections 6 and 7 provide for citizenship by birth, and sections 13 to 16 provide for citizenship by registration. Being born in the country is the easiest way in which stateless children born in Kenya can acquire citizenship. Article 14(4) gives protection to children born in Kenya when the nationality of their parents is unknown. These legal provisions protect the citizenship of stateless people. However, from this legal provision, there are other provisions that seem to limit the provision of nationality when it is applied to minority groups of people. An example of this is the Kenyan court case of Hashmukh Devani v. Cabinet Secretary of Interior and Coordination and Others (2016), where the court examined the petitioners’ case regarding the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act as read together with Article 14 of the Constitution. The court held that every individual who approaches the court based on the interpretation of a human right should be heard. In this case, the petitioner was an Indian born to Indian parents who resided in Kenya. The petitioner’s mother acquired Kenyan citizenship in 1969, and she died in 2005. The petitioner was born in 1949. The case was based on the provision of Article 14(2) of the Constitution of Kenya (2010): a person is a citizen of Kenya if, at the time of their birth, one of their parents was a citizen of Kenya. The court ruled against the petitioner because the Constitution was not in existence at the time of his birth, and he had already been born at the time of his mother’s attainment of citizenship. The petitioner failed to acquire citizenship by both naturalization and by birth. His only remaining remedy was to gain citizenship by registration. In the question of statelessness, the court assumed that because the parents of the petitioners were Indian before they resided in Kenya, he automatically had Indian nationality, and thus his right to nationality was to be barred. 5. South African citizenship laws and statelessness Since the end of apartheid in 1994, South Africa has undergone substantial changes to its citizenship regulations. Nevertheless, ensuring that stateless communities attain citizenship alongside the accompanying rights and protections remains challenging. The Citizenship Act of 1995 provides many routes to acquiring South African citizenship, including naturalization, descent, and birth. However, stateless individuals often encounter legal and practical obstacles in their pursuit of citizenship. Thus, a comprehensive examination of the nation’s citizenship legislation and the consequences of statelessness is required to address these pressing issues. Mbiyozo (2019) shed light on the urgent need to prevent statelessness rather than support it, emphasizing the violation of human rights that statelessness constitutes: ‘Statelessness prevents individuals from enjoying fundamental human rights, including the right to education, healthcare, employment, and freedom of movement’ (p. 4). To safeguard these rights, Mbiyozo advocates in favour of comprehensive citizenship regulations that ensure inclusivity and universal protection. Hobden’s (2018) study of South African citizenship law reveals that the country has made great strides in redressing past citizenship injustices and promoting equality (p. 6), highlighting the country’s perception of citizenship rules as a means to address historical inequities. Ndimurwimo and Jahnig (2022) examined the impact of climate change on statelessness in the Southern African region. They argue that climate change-induced displacement may increase statelessness, creating new categories of vulnerable individuals (p. 103). This viewpoint emphasizes the interconnection between environmental factors and statelessness, highlighting the importance of proactive and preventative measures. Mbiyozo (2019) acknowledged the progress made by South Africa in combating statelessness while highlighting areas for improvement. The author commends the South African government’s efforts to create legislation that streamlines the citizenship application process for disadvantaged groups, such as children born in South Africa to foreign parents. Mbiyozo also points to several areas where South Africa can improve its response to and treatment of statelessness. The author critiques the absence of a comprehensive national strategy to combat statelessness, 105