SOLVING STATELESSNESS case in which discrimination tips over into denationalisation.44 At the age of 17, Benjamin applied for her national identification number, a document needed to enrol in university. Despite having been born in Sudan and lived there all her life, she was told she was no longer a Sudanese citizen primarily because her father’s last name indicated he was from South Sudan – even though he had died six months before South Sudan even existed as a country. When she challenged this denial of her citizenship in the Sudanese Constitutional Court, the court ruled that the automatic revocation of a minor’s Sudanese citizenship was constitutional within the bounds of the law, based on Article 10(2) of the Sudanese Nationality Act 1994 (amended 2011), which deprives habitual residents of Sudan of their Sudanese nationality if they are believed to have acquired “de jure or de facto” the citizenship of South Sudan, without any right to contest the decision. Although technically Benjamin and the tens of thousands of others who now find themselves in a similar position have the option of reclaiming their South Sudanese citizenship, the ability for this citizenship to have meaning in practice is unrealistic for many people who have lived in Khartoum for decades – or for some, all their lives. Many who are seen as being from the South have put their roots down in Khartoum and do not want to relocate. For instance one woman talked about the fact that she has strong links with the North and would have preferred to stay: “I am linked to the North because three of my children died and were buried here”.45 A man from South Sudan who has only ever lived in Khartoum talked of how he knows “nothing about the South [...] Suddenly we found that we have to go back to South Sudan although our culture and way of life is totally different from that one of South Sudan. I am wondering how I am going to adapt to living there [...] I don’t have any traditional marks on my face like people from South Sudan, but even so people here discriminate against us.”46 Indeed, the very category “South Sudanese” is far from straightforward. For instance a woman whose parents were from South Sudan, but who 44 45 46 For more details of this case, see S. Chiasson, Challenging Discriminatory Legislation in Sudan Using African Legal Architecture, IRRI Blog, 14 October 2015. Interview with woman originally from South Sudan, Khartoum, Sudan, 14 June 2012. Interview with man originally from South Sudan, Khartoum, Sudan, 16 June 2012. 93