Report on Citizenship Law: Rwanda In the law of 1963, nationality by parental descent was part of nationality of origin. A child born to a Rwandan father was automatically Rwandan and therefore a national by origin.96 On the basis of this law, a blanket status of origin was granted to children born from Rwandan fathers, regardless of whether they possessed other origins or not.97 This was the standard terminology in Belgian and French law at the time, and with less movement there was an assumption that Rwanda would continue to be only populated by people who originated there. In the Arusha Peace Accords and the nationality laws of 2004 and 2008, a new understanding of nationality of origin emerged. Nationality of origin was reserved for those whose ancestors had no other origin but Rwanda. Illustrative of this is a person’s belonging to social clans, also known as ‘Ubwoko,’98 whose members are considered to have a common mythical Rwandan ancestor.99 In other words, origin is innate, permanent and cannot change over time so long as it can be proven. This status is conserved even if the holder has subsequently acquired nationalities of other countries. This change blurred the terms ‘nationality of origin’ and ‘nationality by parental descent,’ since neither of the laws provided a transitional mechanism to address the issue. It is necessary to clarify the difference because the two terms are substantially different when it comes to the levels of rights and privileges. As discussed above, the law provides no mechanism for those who have acquired nationality and their descendants to enjoy equal rights as nationals by origin. Leaving this question unanswered risks jeopardising national unity efforts as it places those with acquired nationality in a perpetual state of inequality. From the point of view of rights, this problem is further narrowed down to those born to parents who acquired Rwandan nationality after 2004 as according to the predominant interpretation of the law they are not nationals of origin but are descendants of nationals by acquisition. People born before 2004 to parents with acquired nationality may be taken as having origin in Rwanda by virtue of the 1963 law. However, the implementation of this is problematic, especially when the applicant has physical traits or a skin complexion that is distinct from what is common to those who originate in Rwanda. 4.2 Addressing the problem of recovery of Rwandan nationality The current Rwandan laws categorise applicants for nationality recovery, and the categories emanate from the 2003 constitution. However, the revised constitution of 2015 left out these categorisations. It instead considers those who have renounced their nationality as foreigners with Rwandan origin and grants them entitlement to nationality if they apply for it. Legal clarity is needed on the status of those who did not renounce their Rwandan nationality and have not confirmed their interest in Rwandan nationality either by returning to settle in Rwanda or through registration at Rwandan embassies, and this puts them at higher risk of statelessness. For this category of people, the only practice that complies with the current Constitution is to consider them as having intentionally extinguished their right to Rwandan nationality and therefore as having renounced nationality. This status would put them in a position of 96 See Article 3 of the 2008 Nationality Law. See Article 12 of the 1963 Nationality Code. 98 The term ‘Ubwoko’ may mean ethnic group as well as clan. Contextually, this term is used to mean ‘clan.’ 99 Office of the President of the Republic (1999), The Unity of Rwandans: before the colonial period, under the colonial rule and under the First Republic (1999:6). See also Newbury D (1980: 390). 97 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/10 - © 2020 Author(s) 19