CITIZENSHIP AND STATELESSNESS IN THE HORN OF AFRICA \Y from the SNNP region.*8 Other ethnic groups continue to call for their own regional states, encouraged by the success of the Sidama.** Ethiopian nationality is legally constituted at the federal level, and the federal constitution has a bill of rights with non-discrimination provisions, including in relation to freedom of movement, voting and holding political office.** In practice, however, a person’s membership of one of the federal units must be confirmed (via the administrative sub-units) before Ethiopian nationality is recognised (see heading below: National identity cards and passports). The regional states and city administrations were as of 2017 sub divided into more than 103 administrative zones, 993 woredas (rural districts) and municipalities/city administrations, and more than 18,500 kebeles.*6 The regional state constitutions vary in their definitions for membership of that region, though all reflect the federal constitution in their general provisions on individual and group rights. Minority groups are explicitly classified as “indigenous” or “non-indigenous” in some regional constitutions, while the distinction is made in practice in others. The Amhara regional constitution states that “The supreme power of the national regional state resides in and belongs to the peoples of the Amhara region”; whereas that of Oromia is more exclusive, stating that “sovereign power in the region resides in the people of the Oromo state has similar provisions to those of Oromia. minorities through the three-tier system In some states, a degree of local government within each “nationality administration’, woreda/city administration and kebele). the regions: the Amhara Nation”. The Somali regional of autonomy is given to regional state (the zone or However, this is not uniform across region provides for nationality administrations for the Himra, Awi and Oromo ethnic groups, the Southern Nations region has numerous ethnically defined nationality administrations, and Benishangul-Gomuz has five ethnically determined zones; but Oromia provides no territorial or other form of autonomy for non-Oromo residents of the state.*” The Benishangul-Gomuz constitution lists only five ethnic groups as indigenous, even though almost 50 percent of the population is made members of other groups who have migrated to the region in the past. The Gambella up of constitution #3 Yonatan T. Fessha, ‘The Sidama have voted for their own state. What follows is far less certain’ The Conversation, 3 December 2019 https://theconversation.com/the-sidama-have-voted-for-their-own-state-what-follows-is-far-less-certain-127748; Kjetil Tronvoll, with Filata Boroje and Kairedin Tezera, ‘The Sidama’s quest for self-rule: A study of the referendum on regional statehood’, European Institute of Peace, January 2020 https://www.eip.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Sidamas-quest-for-self-rule.pdf; Brook Abdu, ‘Sidama embarks on statehood’ The Reporter Ethiopia, 20 June 2020 hitps://www.thereporterethiopia.com/article/sidama-embarks-statehood. “4 Bereket Eshetu Messele, ‘Splitting Southern Nations region into four can promote peace’ Ethiopia Insight, 10 October 2020 https://www.ethiopiainsight.com/2020/10/10/splitting-southern-nations-region-into-four-can-promote-peace/. #° Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, 1995, articles 25, 32 and 38. 46 “Ethiopian Experience of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics”, FDRE Vital Events Registration Agency Presentation to Technical Seminar on Legal Frame Work for Civil registration, Vital Statistics and Identity Management, Manila, Philippines, July 2017. “Woreda” is sometimes used for all district level administrations, and sometimes used only in rural contexts, with “municipality” or “city administration” used as the equivalent in urban areas. Serdar Yilmaz and Varsha Venugopal, ‘Local Government Discretion and Accountability in Ethiopia’, International Studies Program Working Paper (Georgia State University, 2008), https://icepp.gsu.edu/files/2015/03/ispwp0838.pdf; Zemelak Ayele, ‘Local Government in Ethiopia: Still an Apparatus of Control?’, Law, Democracy & Development 15, no. 1 (2011), https://doi.org/10.4314/ldd.v15i1.7; Tilahun Meshesha Fenta, ‘Local Government in Ethiopia: Practices and Challenges’, Journal of Management Science and Practice 2, no. 4 (2014): 71-79. 47 Van der Beken, ‘Ethiopia: Constitutional Protection of Ethnic Minorities at the Regional Level’. 16 UNHCR — December 2021