STATELESSNESS AND CITIZENSHIP IN THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY unknown parents are entered in the civil registration system and can acquire national identity cards on majority.228 Deprivation of citizenship is not permitted from a person who was attributed Rwandan nationality at birth (nationality of origin) (Article 19). In the case a naturalised person, an individual can be deprived of Rwandan nationality if it was acquired fraudulently even if this results in statelessness (Article 19); while this provision nevertheless complies with the requirements of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, the permitted extension of deprivation to the individual’s spouse and children does not (Article 21). The rules on population registration and identification before the 1994 genocide, with their recording of ethnic identity, played a notorious role in facilitating the identification of those to be killed.229 The current practices in relation to identification avoid such categorisation. In line with the civil law tradition, disputes over citizenship and civil registration in Rwanda are resolved by the courts, with procedures established by the law itself. In 2007, Rwanda conducted a mass registration process for a new population register and identity card for all residents over 16 years in age. It is claimed that 9.2 million people were registered with biometric details in one weekend, and processed within 45 days.230 During this period of mass registration it was relatively easy to gain access to registration as a citizen; those who are over the age of compulsory registration and seek to gain an ID card are now finding it more difficult to do so. There is a need to provide reasons why the person was not registered in the initial process; and for children whose parents were refugees and remain, or have returned to live, outside Rwanda it can be difficult and costly to provide the documentary and witness evidence needed to be recognised as Rwandan.231 Recovery of Rwandan nationality, which was very easy in the post-genocide period, has become more controlled since 2008, when the current nationality law was adopted.232 Rwanda, like Burundi, is a state with a relatively homogenous and culturally unified population, compared to its neighbours. Rwanda is not known to host stateless communities similar to the non-nationals of Omani and Swahili descent in Burundi; the major population at risk of statelessness are the refugees from Kinyarwanda-speaking communities in DRC. There are also, however, likely to be some people for whom their status as Rwandan or Burundian nationals is in issue, given the cultural similarities between the two countries, and the refugee and migrant flows between them. In addition, the strong economic growth in Kigali over the past decade has drawn migrants from other countries to the city to work; and while their children born in Rwanda should have the right to Rwandan nationality if they cannot obtain the nationality of their parents, the implementation of this protection may require further investigation. 228 ID4Africa conference site visit, 25 May 2016. 229 Timothy Longman, “Identity cards, ethnic self-perception and genocide in Rwanda”, in Jane Caplan and John Torpey (eds.) Documenting Individual Identity: The Development of State Practices in the Modern World, Princeton University Press, 2001. 230 Presentation, NIDA, ID4Africa conference site visit, 25 May 2016; see also Atick, The Identity Ecosystem of Rwanda, p. 18. 231 Round table discussion, Legal Aid Forum, 26 July 2016. Presidential Order No. 21/01 of 27 May 2009, Article 3, provides for proof of Rwandan parentage to be by birth certificate and Rwandan identity card or passport of the parent, or if they are not available by inquiry of the Director General for Immigration and Emigration. As noted under the heading on birth registration, however, the 2008 nationality law states that a birth certificate alone can serve as proof of Rwandan nationality. 232 The Rwandan constitution of 2003 provided that “Rwandans or their descendants who were deprived of their nationality between 1st November 1959 and 31 December 1994 by reason of acquisition of foreign nationalities automatically reacquire Rwandan nationality if they return to settle in Rwanda” (Article 7). The provision was included in the 2004 nationality code, which also stated that “All persons originating from Rwanda and their descendants are upon their request from the registrar of civil status entitled to Rwandan nationality” (Article 26). The constitutional additional provision was included in the 2008 nationality code, but the additional provision of the 2004 code was amended to make the procedure for people of Rwandan origin more difficult and require a presidential order. The provision for recovery of nationality by those who acquired another from 1959 to 1994 is not included in the latest (2015) revision of the constitution. 56 UNHCR / September 2018