Statelessness & Citizenship Review 2019 1(1) which conflict has festered in the post-colonial state, as ‘the lack of clarity and inaccessible procedures in the allocation of nationality at independence to the “non-indigenous” residents of each territory left a dangerous level of confusion and exclusion’. 4 The following two chapters (5 and 6) present a number of trends and patterns in nationality law and its application in the context of these newly fabricated nation-states. It describes in detail the developments in the substantive content of these laws and how this has often differed from their administration, and considers the relationship between formal and informal determinations around belonging. It provides an overview of the balance of the application of jus soli and jus sanguinis provisions across the continent, gender equality in the law (outlining the many successes in ironing out gender discrimination), dual nationality, the general failures surrounding provisions for naturalisation in practice and the mechanisms that might lead to loss and deprivation of citizenship. 5 It then links this overview of the law to the practice of these laws by discussing processes of identification and registration. 6 This speaks to the significant challenges that exist where it is no longer enough to be entitled to nationality but where one also has to have proof of that nationality. As Manby argues: The regulations and décrets that provide detailed rules for application of the laws, as well as the internal directives of government departments and the level of training of the officials who implement them, may in practice be at least as important as the constitution or legislation in shaping the understanding of the government officials responsible for issue of identity and other documentation, and thus access to proof of nationality in practice. 7 This, therefore, earths the discussion in the messy context in which laws are applied, driven by both national and local political interest. Manby discusses in detail the impact of changes in national identity card systems that are increasingly being introduced, but which are revealing problems with previous systems of identification and introducing new challenges 8 — including contentions over identity and belonging that had previously been masked by the informality of arrangements. Often left to the discretion of lowranking civil servants who have limited understanding of nationality law, Manby describes how the process of access to documentation — and, therefore, access to proof of nationality and the rights attached to that nationality — is vulnerable to discrimination, including on the grounds of ethnicity. 9 As more people access documentation, access to services is becoming more dependent on ID and services that had been previously accessed are now being denied to those who have not managed to access an ID card. 10 Conflict, displacement and corruption create additional challenges in the administration of access to identity, which is not only determined by law but by practice. This has created increased vulnerability to statelessness for those who are seen to have no legitimate claim to belong. In both chapters, the description of laws is interspersed with specific cases, which grounds the discussion and personalises the impact of these laws. This 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ibid 70. ibid 73–122. ibid 126–38. ibid 126. ibid 135. ibid 139. ibid 137. 192