Accessing Malagasy Citizenship 183 choose Malagasy citizenship.1 Because Madagascar already had a substantial population of people who had migrated from India, but were not naturalized French citizens, this meant many people were left stateless. This problem of statelessness persists today because it is difficult to obtain citizenship without having a father or mother who is considered ‘Malagasy.’ Additionally, as will be discussed below, there is evidence that the law is applied in a discriminatory manner, making it more difficult to obtain citizenship if a person is Muslim and nearly impossible to obtain citizenship if a person is of Indian/Pakistani decent. There are families who have lived in Madagascar for four or five generations but have no hope of obtaining Malagasy citizenship anytime in the foreseeable future.2 Those of Indian/Pakistani decent, called Karana, occupy a unique sociopolitical role in Malagasy society. The Karana for generations have been very successful in business and many have become wealthy compared to the rest of the Malagasy people. This success has further perpetuated the cultural isolation of the Karana people and in some instances has resulted in targeted attacks against Karana communities. Preventing the Karana from accessing citizenship disincentives some of the wealthiest in the country from investing in its growth. As Madagascar develops, access to citizenship will come to the forefront of the political agenda. Since the coup in 2009, an unelected transitional government has been in power in Madagascar. The democratic elections taking place in 2013, will hopefully, in time, put an end to this ongoing political unrest.3 The new government has the opportunity to peacefully reform the citizenship system and build a strong foundation for a vibrant participatory democracy in the future. This article gives a brief overview of the Malagasy citizenship laws and describes how the law in operation impacts the Karana community. 1 Code De La Nationalité De Madagascar Juin 2009, arts. 90-92 (translated from French into English by Catherine Moore) (a copy of the translated text is on file with the author). 2 See generally United States Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011: Madagascar (Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor) 15-16. 3 See generally Lauren Ploch & Nicolas Cook, Madagascar’s Political Crisis (United States Congressional Research Services)(18 June 2012), the article describes the military coup that took place in early 2009 ousting the president at the time, Marc Ravalomanana and formally recognizing Andry Rajoelina as president of the High Transitional Authority. With continued political unrest between these two leaders, democratic elections were postponed several times. Elections were finally held for the first time since 2009 on October 25, 2013. Neither of the formal leaders were candidates in the elections. A second round of run-off elections as well as the parliamentary elections will take place on December 20, 2013. ‘Madagascar Holds Long-Awaited Political Elections’ BBC News Africa (25 October 2013). tilburg law review 19 (2014) 182-193