eradicating statelessness.23 If ratified, this treaty would guarantee children's right to nationality and ban statelessness by descent. This marks a major step, after over a decade of advocacy, in framing statelessness as a rights issue in Africa.24 At the subregional level, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) have relevant norms. ECOWAS (West Africa) has deep free-movement protocols (1979, 1985, 2017) enabling visa-free travel for citizens within the region, which facilitate mobility but do not specifically address forced displacement. ECOWAS has also endorsed humanitarian charters calling for collective responsibility for refugees and IDPs. IGAD (Horn/Northeast Africa) developed a Regional Migration Policy Framework (2019) and holds periodic ministerial declarations on durable solutions for refugees and displacement. SADC (Southern Africa) has a Protocol on the Facilitation of Movement of Persons (2005) recognizing commitments to refugee protection. Each REC's instruments create platforms for harmonization and burden-sharing, though often lack strong enforcement. 2.2.3 National Laws and Gaps Many African states rely solely on the 1951/1967 Refugee regime; only a handful have comprehensive asylum laws. Notable national refugee laws include Uganda's Refugees Act (2006) and Kenya's Refugees Act (2021). These statutes grant refugees the right to work, move freely, own businesses, and access education/healthcare — far more than most countries.25 The 2021 Kenyan Act is particularly progressive: it explicitly affords freedom of movement, work rights and bank access,26 and envisions transforming camps (Kakuma, Dadaab) into integrated settlements to benefit local economies.27 Other countries with legal asylum frameworks include Ethiopia (2019 Refugee Proclamation), South Africa (Refugees Act 1998), Ghana (Refugee Law 2016), Rwanda (Refugee Law 2018), and Botswana (Refugees Act 1968). Few states have laws on internal displacement. Nigeria's 2012 National Emergency Management Agency Act touches on IDPs, and several countries have drafted IDP policies, but statutory IDP rights are rare. Equally, there is virtually no African national legislation on statelessness determination or children's right to nationality (except a few constitutions). Liberia’s 2019 Citizenship Law forbids 23 African Union Assembly, Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Right to a Nationality and the Eradication of Statelessness in Africa, AU Doc Assembly/AU/Dec.869(XXXVII) (Addis Ababa, 17–18 February 2024); Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative, "At Last A Treaty to Protect Citizenship Rights and End Statelessness in Africa" (18 February 2024), https://citizenshiprightsafrica.org/at-last-a-treatyto-protect-citizenship-rights-and-end-statelessness-in-africa/. 24 Ibid; see also UNHCR, "#IBelong Campaign to End Statelessness" (ongoing), https://www.unhcr.org/ibelong/. 25 Refugees Act 2006 (Uganda), ss 28–30; Refugees Act 2021 (Kenya), ss 30–35; see Refugees International, "The New Refugee Act in Kenya" (n 8). 26 Refugees Act 2021 (Kenya), ss 30–35; Refugees International, "The New Refugee Act in Kenya" (n 8). 27 Refugees International, "The New Refugee Act in Kenya" (n 8) (discussing the Kalobeyei model and the plan to transform camps into integrated settlements).