Using his discretionary powers, in 2002 the Registrar General revoked the citizenship of Judith Todd, daughter of former Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia, Sir Garfield Todd, as a result of her failure to renounce her claim to New Zealand citizenship in accordance with the 2001 Act. According to the Registrar General, Judith Todd was an “alien” who should have renounced her New Zealand citizenship because her parents were born in New Zealand, even though she was born in Rhodesia. Judith Todd vehemently denied that she was a citizen of New Zealand by descent, arguing that she could not renounce what she did not possess. The High Court ruled in her favour but on appeal the Supreme Court found that she was a citizen of New Zealand by descent and gave her only two days in which to renounce that citizenship. Failure to do so would result in the loss of her claim to Zimbabwean nationality through operation of the law. 34 Whilst the Registrar General did issue her with a temporary passport, he refused to renew it when it expired, rendering Judith Todd stateless. Her father was stripped of his citizenship before his death in 2002. During the course of its research, Amnesty International came across cases of migrants and descendants of migrants who had held valid Zimbabwean identity documents but found them rejected by the Registrar General’s office when they attempted to renew their passports or replace a missing document. Many people discovered they had lost their Zimbabwean citizenship in 2001 and were unable to obtain a legal identity until they reapplied. Most families interviewed were from SADC countries and were entitled to Zimbabwean nationality under the 2003 amendment to the Constitution. 35 Despite these legal provisions, they have been rendered stateless in practice. Zimbabwean authorities treated migrants as if they were in possession of a second nationality, yet the countries of their supposed foreign citizenship did not, in fact, regard them as citizens. Most of the people affected were not in possession of a second nationality and neither did they hold citizenship in their parents’ countries, making it impossible for them to renounce it. The government’s interpretation of the 2001 amendment affected not only actual dual citizens but also anyone with a possible claim to citizenship elsewhere. This law was applied arbitrarily and without adequate notice, consultation and public awareness. Grandmother sitting with her two grandchildren who are at risk of becoming stateless because their mother has been rendered stateless due to lack of identity document. The two are facing a precarious future, including the prospect of not finishing school if they are not issued with birth certificates or identity documents. © Amnesty International/Tsvangirai Mukwazhi 34 Registrar General of Citizenship vs Judith Garfield Todd Judgment No. SC 4/03, Civil Appeal No. 158/02 section 38 of the Constitution which provides for the citizenship by registration and section 43 which provides for citizenship to persons born in Zimbabwe to parents with a claim to citizenship of a SADC state. Section 38(2) provides that any person who has been lawfully and continuously resident in Zimbabwe is entitled to apply for citizenship by registration. 35 See WE ARE LIKE “STRAY ANIMALS” THOUSANDS LIVING ON THE MARGINS DUE TO STATELESSNESS IN ZIMBABWE Amnesty International 14