Statelessness in Southern Africa Table 2: The right to a nationality for children born in the country 82 Country Birth in the Otherwise Parents Foundlings country stateless stateless (s) or unknown (u) Angola (x) s+u x Relevant legal provision (date of latest amendment in parentheses) L2005Arts9&14 Botswana - Lesotho JS x Malawi ~ (x) Mozambique Namibia South Africa (JS) JS/2 s+u (JS)* x C (JS) x Swaziland x Zambia C1993Art38 L1971Art5 C1994Art47 L1966Art18 C2004Art23&24 L1975(1987)Art2 C1990(2010)Art4( 1)(d) C1996(2009)Art2 8 L1995(2010)Art2 C2005Art47 L1992Art17 - Zimbabwe - C / L: right to nationality provided for in constitution or legislation (x): grant is based on an application procedure JS: right to nationality based on birth in country alone (with exclusions for children of diplomats & some other categories) (JS): child born in country of non-citizens is eligible to apply for citizenship at majority and/or after residence period (JS)*: child born in country of parents who are legal residents has right to citizenship JS/2: child born in country of one parent also born in the country has right to citizenship ~ racial or ethnic discrimination in law Countries indicated in bold have particularly weak legal protections against statelessness Children born outside the country In most African countries, a child born to a citizen acquires citizenship, wherever that child is born. However, a handful of African countries allow for citizenship to be passed for only one generation outside the country: a citizen from birth born in the country can pass his or her citizenship to a foreignborn child but that child cannot pass his or her citizenship on in turn. Provisions to this effect are in force in Lesotho and Malawi in southern Africa.83 In some cases, though nationality may be passed, there are additional requirements either to take positive steps to claim the right to nationality or to notify the authorities of the birth, if a child is born outside the country (See Table 3: Right to citizenship by descent). These provisions, while in principle acceptable, may leave some children stateless, since they are often little known and if nationality is not claimed 82 There is significant overlap between provisions on children of unknown parents or on foundlings; however, a foundling in some jurisdictions is interpreted to be restricted to a new-born or very young infant, while a child of unknown parents would generally not have the same age restrictions. 83 And also in Gambia, Mauritius, Tanzania, and Uganda, and permitted to be established by legislation according to the Kenyan 2010 Constitution, though not in fact implemented under the new Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act 2011. In Lesotho, the 1971 law discriminates on the basis of gender in relation to children born abroad, providing that only the father may pass nationality to children if they are not born in Lesotho; but the 1993 Constitution provides for equal rights. In Malawi, the racially discriminatory provisions of the Citizenship Act equally provide to those born abroad. 17