Accessing Malagasy Citizenship
189
people.26 Although the Karana have been in the country for many generations,
they fall into the last two categories.27 All foreigners who stay more than three
months need a stay permit and in the case of the Karana most have to renew
their permits indefinitely.28 Often, fourth or fifth generation Karana request
stay visas.29
Foreigners are required to carry their papers on them at all times. The
Surveillance du Territoire are police who stop foreigners during the day and
night to check them for valid ID papers. If they stop a person and his visa has
expired, the person gets sent to the border, or if it is considered a major infraction, then he is sent to court and may go to prison for up to two years. A major
infraction could be overstaying a visa by six months, but it depends on the
case. The police take a case-by-case approach when determining what should
qualify as a major infraction.30
In addition to needing to renew their visas, the Karana who are not Malagasy
citizens cannot vote, work for the government, or buy land. The right to own
land seems to be the biggest obstacle to extending citizenship to the Karana
community. There is a fear among the Malagasy people that allowing the Karana
to become Malagasy citizens will allow them to become too powerful and own
too much land. This fear is exacerbated in certain cities where the Karana
already have a great deal of power because of their successful businesses.31
Because the Karana are in this indeterminate state they conduct business
and affairs as foreigners, keeping in the back of their minds a place of refuge in
case they are thrown out of the country.32 Karana who have lived in Madagascar
their whole lives, and whose families have been in the country for several generations will never be able to buy land to be buried in without citizenship.33
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
Sophie Blanchy, Karana Et Banians (n 16) 266.
Ibid 265.
Ibid 266.
Interview with an offical from the Ministere De La Securite Interieure, in Antanan
arivo, Madagascar (7 January 2013) (simultaneous translation conducted by Tefinjanahary
Tantelinirina).
Ibid. The regular police check the papers of the Malagasy people and usually a person has
to pay a fine if he does not have his papers on him. If the person cannot present his papers
he is locked up and an investigation takes place.
Sophie Blanchy, Karana Et Banians (n 16) 266; See also, Interview with Ny Fikambanana
Silamo Malagasy (The Malagasy Muslim Association), in Antananarivo, Madagascar
(3 January 2010) (simultaneous translation conducted by Tefinjanahary Tantelinirina).
Sophie Blanchy, Karana Et Banians (n 16) 266.
Interview with AKAMA (Association des Amis Malagasy), in Antananarivo, Madagascar
(8 January 2013). AKAMA is a Karana social services organization in Madagascar. The
tilburg law review 19 (2014) 182-193