42. These provisions of the Citizenship Act and Immigration Act have enabled the discriminatory deprivation of citizenship of many persons of foreign origin in Zimbabwe, as highlighted in more detail below. Issue IV – Descendants of migrants and risks of statelessness 43. Zimbabwe has a long history of immigration from neighbouring SADC countries such as Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, particularly of labourers coming to work on the commercial farms. These migrants and their descendants have been repeatedly subjected to arbitrary and discriminatory deprivation of Zimbabwean nationality due to their foreign origin. 44. While migrants were initially allowed to retain their original nationality and acquire Zimbabwean citizenship as dual citizens, the 1984 Citizenship Act introduced a requirement for those with dual nationality to renounce any foreign citizenship in order to retain their Zimbabwean citizenship. From 2000, following successful campaigns and growing popularity of the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which was supported by the white commercial farmers and their farm workers, the Registrar General’s Office began arbitrarily refusing Zimbabwean citizenship to individuals who had the right to acquire another citizenship, even if those individuals had not claimed and had no intention to claim such a right.68 In 2001, the Citizenship Act was again amended giving people of foreign origin six months to renounce any claim to a foreign nationality or lose their Zimbabwean citizenship.69 The law unfairly targeted migrant workers and their children, as many no longer had ties with their countries of origin, had no documents to travel to those countries, and could not renounce a foreign citizenship to which they were not entitled.70 The law was abused to withdraw citizenship and remove these perceived political opponents from the voters’ roll.71 45. A further amendment to the Citizenship of Zimbabwe Act in 2003 allowed descendants of migrant workers from the SADC region to ask for confirmation of Zimbabwean citizenship upon renouncing any potential entitlement to foreign citizenship.72 However, due to bureaucratic barriers, many applications for registration were unsuccessful.73 46. In 2013, section 43 of the Constitution awarded Zimbabwean citizenship by birth to persons born in Zimbabwe to a SADC national parent.74 Despite the existence of this constitutional provision, there is still no subordinate legislation to implement it. Many who attempt to register are often still directed to renounce citizenship of their parents or grandparents’ country of origin, which may be impossible in practice. While 68 Amnesty International, We Are Like ‘Stray Animals’. Thousands Living on the Margin due to Statelessness in Zimbabwe, Amnesty International, (April 2021), page 6, available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr46/3932/2021/en/. 69 Citizenship Rights In Africa Initiative, Zimbabwe, http://citizenshiprightsafrica.org/region/zimbabwe/?fwp_paged=6. 70 Amnesty International, We Are Like ‘Stray Animals’. Thousands Living on the Margin due to Statelessness in Zimbabwe, Amnesty International, (April 2021), page 11, available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr46/3932/2021/en/. 71 Rumbidzai Dube, “Identity, Citizenship, and the Registrar General: The Politicking of Identity in Zimbabwe” (RAU, 2012), available at http://citizenshiprightsafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Dube_Zim_Identity-Citizenship-and-the-RegistrarGeneral-July-2012.pdf. 72 Amnesty International, We Are Like ‘Stray Animals’. Thousands Living on the Margin due to Statelessness in Zimbabwe, Amnesty International, (April 2021), page 11, available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr46/3932/2021/en/. 73 Amnesty International, We Are Like ‘Stray Animals’. Thousands Living on the Margin due to Statelessness in Zimbabwe, Amnesty International, (April 2021), page 15, available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr46/3932/2021/en/. 74 Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, Report on National Inquiry on Access to Documentation in Zimbabwe, (April 2020), page 58, available at: http://www.zhrc.org.zw/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/NI-Report-1.pdf. 11