Statelessness among historical migrants 18. Article 6 of the Nationality Code does not clearly specify who are considered “foreigners”, placing historical migrants and their descendants, displaced persons, refugee children born abroad and border populations at risks of statelessness.12 19. In particular, (the risk of) statelessness exists among descendants of pre-independence migrants in the country, as they may be considered foreigners, despite having lived in the country for generations. They mainly come from neighbouring West African States, that were French colonies at the time, in particular Haute-Volta (now Burkina Faso), Mali, and Guinea. They have been stigmatised since the 1990s as a result of the turbulent politics of Côte d’Ivoire which introduced the concept of “Ivorité”, making a distinction between those who are “pure” Ivorians and others.13 Issues concerning (facilitated) naturalisation procedures 20. The 1961 Nationality Code contained two special avenues for ‘foreigners’ to obtain Ivorian nationality. First, a one-year facilitated naturalisation programme was available for foreigners living in Côte d’Ivoire at independence.14 ‘Foreigners’ with habitual residence in Côte d’Ivoire prior to independence were eligible for facilitated naturalisation. This procedure however, lapsed in December 1962. In that one-year period, not one person benefitted from facilitated naturalisation. After 1963, facilitated naturalisation became a non-automatic and discretionary procedure, and is still existent in the Nationality Code.15 It is, however, unclear how many people benefit from this. 21. Further, Article 17 of the 1961 Nationality Code provided for minor children born in Côte d’Ivoire to foreign nationals to acquire Ivorian nationality by declaration. This provision applies to children who had at least five years of consecutive residence in Côte d’Ivoire and whose births were registered with the civil registration office pursuant to law. However, the ‘option-procedure’ to acquire Ivorian nationality by declaration was repealed by the 1972 amendments to the Nationality Code, which entered into effect on 25 January 1973. Discrimination 22. Despite Côte d’Ivoire being party to the CEDAW and CRPD, its nationality law is discriminatory on the basis of gender and disability. 12 Act No. 1961-415 of 14 December 1961 promulgating the Ivory Coast Nationality Code, as amended by Act No. 1972-852 of 21 December 1972 [], 1961-415; 1972-852, 21 December 1972. 13 For more information see: http://www.refworld.org/docid/58594d114.html. 14 Article 105 of the 1061 Nationality Code. 15 Other initiatives were introduced, such as the Linas-Marcoussis Agreement called for a special naturalization program to facilitate the acquisition of nationality by historical migrants and their descendants. However, such initiatives have not been successful. 5