Statelessness in Southern Africa The principles of citizenship law Both the common law and the civil law models of citizenship that came to be applied in Africa combine the two basic concepts known as jus soli (literally, law or right of the soil), whereby an individual obtains citizenship because he or she was born in a particular country; and jus sanguinis (law or right of blood), where citizenship is based on descent from parents who themselves are citizens. In general, a law based on jus sanguinis will tend to exclude from citizenship residents of a country who are descended from individuals who have migrated from one place to another. An exclusive jus soli rule, on the other hand, would prevent individuals from claiming the citizenship of their parents if they had moved away from their “historical” home, but is more inclusive of the actual residents of a particular territory. In practice, another distinction is often more important in citizenship law, that between citizenship “from birth” (termed “of origin” in the civil law countries) and citizenship “by acquisition”. Citizenship from birth/of origin may be based either on descent (jus sanguinis) or on birth in the country (jus soli), but implies that a child has a citizenship from the moment of birth without having to undergo any further procedures to acquire it (in practice of course, procedures may be applied to obtain recognition of that nationality). Citizenship by acquisition relates to those who have become citizens later in life, as a result of naturalisation based on long-term residence, marriage or other criteria.22 In many countries, the rights of those who are citizens from birth or by acquisition are the same; but others apply distinctions, especially in relation to the holding of public office. In addition, and very importantly, citizenship by acquisition may usually be far more easily withdrawn. The causes of statelessness in southern Africa The two main causes of statelessness in southern Africa, as in the rest of the continent, are a failure to integrate historical and contemporary migrants (whether forced or voluntary) and their descendants, and discrimination in law or in fact on the basis of gender, race or ethnicity (whether against migrants, or people who have never moved). These causes are intertwined, and must be seen within the historical context of the region, and the way in which the states were formed. The historical context of migration and discrimination Pre-independence Africa shares two challenges with other post-imperial regions. On one hand the colonial powers set political borders that cut through the middle of communities which in the past formed one political unit. At the same time they promoted — or sometimes forced — migration within the new political units, moving unprecedented numbers of people away from their place of birth. This is as true in southern Africa as elsewhere on the continent. Africa is not unique in this situation — borders throughout the world have been established by war and conquest — but Africa is unusual in the abruptness of the transitions that occurred and the lack of regard by the colonial powers to pre-existing political borders. In southern Africa, there was relatively free movement throughout the territories of the British-run Central Africa Federation (Northern and Southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland; that is, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi). In addition, the British colonial government and the white minority governments of Rhodesia and South Africa created, sometimes through punitive tax regimes or other forms of coercion, powerful recruitment systems for long-distance migrant labour on mines and farms established on expropriated land. Swaziland and Lesotho also contributed thousands of workers within this system. 22 Note that the terminology is not consistent across legal systems, and that the division between nationality of origin and nationality by acquisition may seem more natural in the civil law countries. In countries using English as the official language, the law usually refers to citizenship “by birth” to mean “from birth”; but, confusingly, in some cases citizenship “by birth” is used to mean citizenship based on birth in the country (jus soli). Similarly, naturalisation is usually the term used (in English and in French/Portuguese) for acquisition of citizenship after long term residence; registration or option may be the term used for acquisition of citizenship based on marriage or other connection, under a procedure that gives less discretion to the state. In some Commonwealth countries, such as Zambia, the only process for citizenship by acquisition is known as registration. 5