CITIZENSHIP AND STATELESSNESS
IN THE HORN OF AFRICA
\Y
minority communities, who face significant discrimination in daily life, at high risk of not being recognised
as nationals as Somalia seeks to rebuild its identification infrastructure.
All the states considered by this report provide for the possibility of acquiring nationality based on longterm residence and fulfilment of other conditions. The provisions in law, however, are severely limited
in application. Naturalisation appears to be inaccessible in practice — as it is in all African countries. Lack
of access
to naturalisation
does
not in principle
create
another nationality and this nationality is documented.
statelessness
But it does
if the person
concerned
has
at least create exclusion from the
benefits of citizenship, and it greatly increases the risk of statelessness if naturalisation is impossible to
access for those who have lost any connection to their country of origin, including for later generations
born in a country where neither parent is recognised as a national.
Birth registration
While Djibouti has achieved birth registration rates of above 90 percent of children under five, none of
the other countries
information from
covered
by this have
reported
rates of above
Ethiopia is an improvement to 16 percent).
Recent
five percent
(although
the
latest
initiatives have slightly improved
these figures, but birth registration remains very low — and of course even lower among those who are
already adults. Although birth registration is not (usually) accepted as proof of nationality, it provides the
most authoritative evidence of the facts that enable a person to claim nationality — place and date of
birth,
and
identity
of
parents.
Universal
birth
registration
is thus
a
priority
for
the
prevention
of
statelessness.
If the parents of a child are not nationals of the country of birth, access to consular services may be
essential, both to issue documents required for the parents to be able to register the child’s birth in the
host country, and for that child’s right to the parent’s nationality to be assured, through transcription of
the birth certificate into the records of the state of origin. Yet it can be costly and difficult to access such
consular services, nearing impossible for those who are refugees or without existing identity documents.
In the
absence
of birth
registration,
states
rely in practice
on
alternative
identification
systems
to
establish a person’s identity and nationality, usually including witness testimony of different kinds.
Due process and transparency in nationality administration
For
legal
protections
against
statelessness
to
be
effective,
the
administration
of
nationality
and
identification needs to follow basic rules of due process and transparency. Amongst other requirements,
there should be clearly stated criteria for proof of entitlement to citizenship, including witness testimony
in case birth certificates or other documents
are not available, and the steps to be taken
in case
no
evidence of citizenship is available (for example in the case of children of unknown parents).
Administrative safeguards against statelessness start with the establishment of child protection systems
that ensure that the right of every child to acquire a nationality is respected
in practice, in line with the
obligations of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child. This means that procedures should be put in place so that, for example, the legal
attribution of nationality to children of unknown
4
parents found in the territory is practically implemented
UNHCR
— December 2021