SOLVING STATELESSNESS Rwandan refugees living in Nakivale and Kyaka II refugee camps and return them to Rwanda.13 The international community’s emphasis on return to the exclusion of local integration and resettlement is perhaps the strongest reason why refugees – or their descendants – might eventually become stateless. The end of the Cold War was thought to herald a time when everyone could return home, leading High Commissioner for Refugees Ogata to call in November 1991 for a “year of voluntary repatriation”.14 Yet such optimism was short lived as the conflicts of the 1990s showed sustainable re-establishment after repatriation to be impossible in many cases: the persistence and nature of these conflicts – which were characteristically intra-State rather than inter-State – meant that the notion and durability of “repatriation” became increasingly questionable. As a result of the failures of repatriation and reintegration and the lack of alternatives being offered, many refugees in protracted situations have fallen off the official radar and sought to “invisibly” integrate without the backing of a legitimate national identity as a crucial form of protection. For instance, Burundian refugees who had left the settlements found that they were not included in the naturalisation scheme as a result; and those who live in cities without official permission often encounter greater challenges in accessing protection than those who remain on the official radar. As a result, there is a possibility that tens of thousands of refugees – and in particular, their children – will eventually become stateless. Of course, the point at which a refugee should or could be defined as stateless is hard to ascertain. As Manby states, there is often no clear line between those who have a nationality and those who are stateless, “and it may only gradually become apparent that a person is, in fact, ‘not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law’ (the official international law definition)”.15 Even where statelessness per se does not occur, individuals may find that they are unable to access the protection that they need, including tools used by nationals 13 14 15 Information Note for the African Union Commission, The removal of Rwanda refugees and asylum seekers from Uganda to Rwanda in July 2010, IRRI 2011. Long, supra n6, p. 20. B. Manby, How will the UNHCR’s statelessness campaign affect Africa? African Arguments, 12 November 2014, http://africanarguments.org/2014/11/12/ how-will-the-unhcrs-statelessness-campaign-affect-africa-by-bronwenmanby. 77