“It is painful to see my daughter growing full of dreams and developing every day into a more clever person, knowing deep inside she has an uncertain future.” Case study Case study In reported efforts to discourage emigration of its nationals, Cuba assigns ‘permanent emigrant status’ to any person who departs the country for a certain period (previously over 11 months, now increased to 24 months). Couples are not permitted to travel together without fear of losing their right to residence. In the case of Maria,3 who was born in South Africa to Cuban parents, the Cuban Embassy in South Africa issued a letter confirming that she is not recognised as a national due to her parents’ emigration status. Her parents presented this letter to Home Affairs in an effort to access South African citizenship for the child under section 2(2) of the Citizenship Act, which provides citizenship for children born on the territory who are stateless. Home Affairs responded that the child should be given permanent residence, not citizenship. However, even her three permanent residence applications have not been processed. The parents discovered this problem when the child’s grandmother in Cuba was ill. They could not obtain a travel document for their four-year-old to go from South Africa to Cuba to meet her grandmother because neither country would recognise her as a citizen. This case is illustrative of the challenges that remain in enforcing the right to nationality for stateless children born in South Africa. In 2014 the High Court of South Africa declared Maria to be a South Africa citizen by birth in terms of section 2(2) of the Citizenship Act. The Minister of Home Affairs was also ordered to make a regulation to facilitate the implementation of this section to allow more people to access it. “Sometimes as a mother I try to understand. Wow, my child, the minute she was born she was brought into this nightmare, that is being a ‘stateless person’. How is it possible a child can be born and at the same time, the most elemental right that any human being is entitled to is denied? I have been going through diverse feelings: scared for the future of my child, hopeless when no one seemed to be sensitive about her future, though the law states she is entitled to citizenship. But bureaucracy is blind and careless. The law does not apply itself, but needs to be put into practice.” 3 Name has been changed to protect her identity. Promoting citizenship and preventing statelessness in South Africa: A practitioner’s guide 5