Report on Citizenship Law: Mali
relationship must take place during the child’s minority, raising the risk of statelessness for
some children born out-of-wedlock.
3.1.2
Based on two generations born in the territory
The 2011 law changed the requirement for double-birth, replacing the requirement that a child
be born in Mali to parents ‘of African origin’ with the requirement that a child be born to
parents whose nationality of origin was ‘in an African state.’99 This change removed potentially
racially discriminatory language from the Code while preserving an element of panAfricanism. This change, however, removed a possible protective clause for stateless persons
and injecting discrimination based on nationality, rather than race.
3.1.3
Presumption for children of unknown parents
The 2011 Code made important changes to the presumption of nationality for children born in
Mali of unknown parents. Article 225 removed the previous caveat that such a child would lose
nationality if the parents were later found and the child’s entitlement to their nationality was
established. The law now provides that they retain Malian nationality even if parentage is later
established. Article 226 retained the provision that a new-born infant is presumed born in Mali.
3.2 Acquisition of nationality after birth
3.2.1
Adoption
The 2011 Code provides for the automatic acquisition of nationality for children adopted by
both Malian women and men (Article 230), a change from the previous law.
3.2.2
Acquisition by parents of Malian children
The 2011 Code added a means of acquiring Malian nationality in Article 232 for the parents of
Malian children, where the parents had resided in Mali for at least one year. However, for
parents acquiring Malian nationality from their children under Art. 232, only foreign parents,
not stateless parents, qualify.
3.2.3
Declaration based on birth and residence
Article 237 confirms the existing possibility for a child born in Mali of foreign parents to
acquire nationality ‘by declaration’, during the six months preceding majority, if he or she has
been resident in Mali for at least five years at that time.
3.2.4
99
14
Acquisition based on marriage
2011 Code Art. 227.
RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/11- © 2020 Author(s)