Report on Citizenship Law: Mali system conflict with cultural practices, traditional authority or the ways in which minority groups, such as nomads, live. Upon independence under the transitional laws that were enacted, residents of Mali should have automatically obtained Malian nationality. Most, however, were not registered or issued with identity documents. This left some Malians, particularly minority groups and those living in rural areas or northern Mali, at risk of discrimination. War broke out in northern Mali in 1962, the same year as Mali passed its first nationality code. Conflict would greatly impede the implementation of Malian nationality law. Civil war drove thousands of Tuareg and others abroad where many would remain unregistered in refugee camps, something that would later impede their ability to return. Drought would cause further thousands to leave northern Mali. Mali’s socialist government was replaced with a military dictatorship in 1968. During this time, legal reform was not possible. The 1990s brought a return of multi-party democracy and legal reform to Mali, including small reforms to the nationality law, though not the sweeping changes to ensure gender equality that some activists wanted. Islamic leaders continued to oppose the secularisation of Malian nationality law. Armed conflict in the north would continue to plague Mali, however, and impede the implementation of nationality. New conflict in central Mali only added to its instability. The place of nomadic communities in the nation-state would emerge as a serious challenge to Mali’s legal system, including its nationality law. There remained a serious question of nomad belonging given the existence of parallel, traditional power structures in nomadic communities and a mis-match between pastoralism and the requirements of the state. For all Malian communities, particularly in rural areas, the question of the role of customary law in determining Malian nationality remains unaddressed. In 2011, Mali drafted a new nationality law that modernised and updated may aspects of the law, while retaining conservative, Islamic principles in other areas of family and personal law. This period also saw the renewal of armed conflict in northern Mali, this time prompting a coup and the collapse of government functions in the north. Following a French military intervention, northern Mali remains highly unstable and mostly under military or rebel control. Further attempts at reform and decentralisation, such as via a new constitution, have stalled. Today, Mali faces the worst security challenges of its post-independence history, a situation that greatly impedes further legal reforms and the implementation of the rule of law. Without a true commitment to peace and decentralisation, it is unlikely that Mali will be able to implement fully its nationality regime in the near future. Questions over the place of nomads in the centralised state, the role of customary law and the place of Islam in government will remain serious challenges to Malian nationality law well into the future. 22 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/11- © 2020 Author(s)