Report on Citizenship Law: Rwanda All persons of Rwandan origin and their descendants are, on request, entitled to Rwandan nationality. b. The law on Rwandan nationality of 2008 provides for “recovery of nationality of origin.” As in the case of deprivation, it deploys the concept of ‘nationality of origin,’ which is not defined earlier in the law, leaving the provision open to varied interpretations. Article 22 states: A Rwandan or his or her descendant who was deprived of his or her Rwandan nationality between 1 November 1959 and 31 December 1994 due to acquisition of a foreign nationality shall on their returning home re-acquire their Rwandan nationality of origin without applying for it. However, the person referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article wishing to stay in a foreign country shall recover Rwandan nationality in accordance with the laws governing the registration of Rwandans. Any person with Rwandan origin and his or her descendants shall have the right to acquire Rwandan nationality on request to the Director General in accordance with a Presidential Order. It is important to note that the current law was drafted prior to the revision of the constitution in 2015. Thus, the changes observed in the new constitution are not reflected in the law as it has yet to be aligned with the current legislation. Such changes include a rejection of categorisation of applicants for recovery. 3.4.3. An interpretation of the application of the rules on recovery Practically, the legal provisions cited above put applicants for recovery of Rwandan nationality into three main categories: a. Nationals of origin who were deprived of their Rwandan nationality between January 1959 and December 1994 because of their acquisition of foreign nationalities. This category, referred to here as ‘the deprived,’ combines those who returned to settle and automatically acquired Rwandan nationality and those who registered their intention to regain their Rwandan nationality at a Rwandan embassy but had no plan to settle in Rwanda.79 From this, two practical challenges emanate. First, the language of the law causes a misconception that everyone who fled in 1959 and who returned to settle in Rwanda from 1994 onwards was a de facto acquirer of a foreign nationality. A small proportion of Rwandans who fled in 1959 actually acquired foreign nationalities. Although many perceive themselves as having acquired foreign nationalities by virtue of possessing foreign identity documents, very few actually went through legal acquisition procedures. Even when a generalised facilitation approach closed in 2008, the same misconception was applied in requiring those who had not returned earlier to undergo the recovery process because they were considered as having foreign nationalities. As such, it would be uncalled for to impose an obligation for recovery on a person who actually did not lose his/her nationality. 79 See Article 22 paras. 1 and 2 of the Nationality Law of 2008. RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/10 - © 2020 Author(s) 15