This population group has over the years been negatively affected by multiple changes to the nationality laws in Zimbabwe, especially in the period between 1963 and 2003. At independence in 1980, full citizenship was accorded to everyone born in Zimbabwe (formerly Southern Rhodesia). Dual or multiple citizenship was permissible and many people qualified who were from other Southern African countries and lived in Zimbabwe. In 1983, the right to dual citizenship was removed from the Lancaster House Constitution and Zimbabweans with dual citizenship were required to renounce their foreign citizenship if they wanted to remain citizens of Zimbabwe. Many descendants of Malawian, Zambian and Mozambican migrants were affected as they could no longer claim citizenship both of Zimbabwe and of their country of descent. Thus, if they chose to retain their foreign citizenship, they ceased to be Zimbabwean nationals and vice versa. From around 2000 the Registrar General’s Office, which is responsible for civil registration, identity documents (IDs), citizenship and the voters’ roll, began to refuse Zimbabwean citizenship to people who had the potential right to another citizenship, even if they had never sought to claim that right. A number of court cases successfully challenged these provisions, albeit with no effect on the general practice of arbitrarily refusing citizenship. As a result, people were faced with insurmountable barriers when they tried to access social services such as health care and education. Stateless people in Zimbabwe without birth certificates and IDs have struggled to access education, including being excluded from sitting for secondary school and other public examinations, thereby limiting their prospects of future employment. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (African Children’s Charter) to which Zimbabwe is state party, provides for the child’s right to a name, birth registration and nationality, and imposes an obligation on State Parties to take legislative measures to prevent statelessness among children. The Zimbabwean authorities have passed discriminatory legislation over the years that has effectively excluded, marginalized and disenfranchised specific groups of people. For example, the Citizenship of Zimbabwe Act 23/1984 was used to arbitrarily deprive persons of foreign origin of their right to a Zimbabwean nationality even though most of them were entitled to citizenship. While states have a right to determine their citizenship laws, these laws must be in conformity with International Human Rights Law. As such, domestic law and practices must not be discriminatory and must conform to obligations to not render anyone stateless. Migrant workers located on mines and farms lost Zimbabwean nationality by operation of the law in 2001. While many were still considered Zimbabwean at the time of the 2001 amendment, the law required them to renounce their ancestral nationality within six months of the law entering into force. Many were unable to do so because they did not hold identity documents showing they were nationals of those other countries. Amnesty International is, among others, recommending that Zimbabwe adopts reasonable and inclusive administrative policies to ensure universal registration, including late registration, of descendants of victims of Gukurahundi in Matabeleland North and South Provinces, Bulawayo and the Midlands, which were sites of the Gukurahundi violence and the killings which presently host some of the stateless people, without the requirement to produce their parents’ death certificates. The organization is also calling on the government to take adequate measures to ensure the registration and restoration of Zimbabwean nationality to all who are entitled to it, including all those born in Zimbabwe to foreign parents. WE ARE LIKE “STRAY ANIMALS” THOUSANDS LIVING ON THE MARGINS DUE TO STATELESSNESS IN ZIMBABWE Amnesty International 6