M.A. was born in a small town on the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea. When she was 12 years old, Ethiopia expelled her mother, who was ethnic Eritrean, to Eritrea during the conflict between the countries. Shortly thereafter, Eritrean soldiers stormed the town and attacked MA’s family store, killing her father and other family members. She survived and was taken to hospital by a cousin who helped her escape Ethiopia. She eventually entered South Africa where she applied for asylum. Her asylum application was rejected as manifestly unfounded on the grounds that she left her country because there was no one left to take care of her. LHR assisted her to appeal the decision in the High Court. Her claim is based the arbitrary deprivation of her nationality under the law; the likelihood that she would remain stateless if returned to Ethiopia; that she would face persecution as an ethnic Eritrean and former asylum-seeker in Ethiopia and that she would face risk of forced conscription in Eritrea. In 2014 the High Court substituted the decision of the RSDO to reject her claim to refugee status and declared that she qualifies to be recognised as a refugee. Insert footnote: FAM v The Minister of Home Affairs and Others Case number 6871/2013. Promoting citizenship and preventing statelessness in South Africa: A practitioner’s guide Case study Case study 101