3. ENSURING THAT TODAY’S REFUGEES ARE NOT TOMORROW’S STATELESS: SOLUTIONS IN A REFUGEE CONTEXT had been born in Khartoum and married someone from the North, argued with her daughter during the interview about whether or not they would “return” to the South. The mother insisted she was going to stay as her husband was there, and the daughter wanted to leave Khartoum.47 Likewise, as one woman whose “grandfathers were born in the South” but herself was born in Khartoum, said, “I have no desire to go to the South. All my family have died, I have no home there. I don’t know what is going to happen. I want to stay in Khartoum.”48 To a certain extent, the situation shifted – somewhat ironically – with the outbreak of war in South Sudan in December 2013, which made “return” even less viable In February 2015, the government started to register South Sudanese people and issue ID cards which give them the right to work and access basic services.49 It was the result of an agreement signed in December between UNHCR, Sudan’s Commissioner for Refugees and the Directorate General of Passports and Immigration. It remains unclear how many have received these documents, and what impact it has had on their day-to-day ability to access resources. In addition, these documents are not passports: they still remain without a nationality. The fact remains that nationality is being withdrawn on the basis of an assessment by the government of Sudan that an individual has South Sudanese citizenship without any evidence of this – and regardless of whether or not the person involved would have the ability in practice to take up this status. As a result, it is clear that Sudanese citizenship law must be urgently reformed to ensure that statelessness is avoided, particularly for those who have, or are perceived to have, connections to the territory of South Sudan. Currently the law provides for automatic revocation of nationality for those who have a potential claim to South Sudanese citizenship regardless of whether or not they have actually asserted that claim (or would actually be able to do so under South Sudanese law). Therefore, in order to avoid statelessness, it is clear that revocation should only occur where it is confirmed that an individual has, in fact, obtained South Sudanese nationality. Furthermore, it 47 48 49 Interview with woman originally from South Sudan, Khartoum, Sudan, 23 June 2012. Interview with woman originally from South Sudan, Khartoum, Sudan, 3 June 2012. UNHCR, Sudan begins issuing IDs for South Sudanese, Press Release, 3 March 2015, http://www.refworld.org/docid/54f5c2f44.html. 94