3. ENSURING THAT TODAY’S REFUGEES ARE NOT TOMORROW’S STATELESS: SOLUTIONS IN A REFUGEE CONTEXT for citizenship as the basis for equal rights and duties enshrined in the Machakos Agreement and Power Sharing Protocols.32 The special status and function of the capital city Khartoum as a “symbol of national unity that reflects the diversity of Sudan”33 was particularly recognised. Part 10 of the Interim National Constitution (still in force) contains a series of provisions on administration of the capital, the operation and representativeness of law enforcement agencies in the capital and the administration of justice, all of which are intended to reinforce “respect for all religions, beliefs and customs”. Unfortunately, the realisation of the CPA and Interim Constitution’s vision of Sudan as a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country of equal citizens failed, and one group of these citizens, “southerners” (as defined by the parties who agreed the CPA), voted overwhelmingly at 98.83% to create their own State. Only 55% of the small number entitled to vote in the north, however, voted for separation. Thus when South Sudan declared independence on 9 July 2011, millions of people potentially found themselves not only on the “wrong” side of the border, but also of the “argument” in the sense that they were living in an area where most people disfavoured independence. New legislation on citizenship, which was passed before secession on both sides of the border, added to the confusion. The Sudanese parliament (National Assembly) adopted amendments to the 1994 Nationality Act that stipulated that Sudanese nationality “shall automatically be revoked if the person has acquired, de jure or de facto, the nationality of South Sudan”.34 Against the background of the adoption in South Sudan of a relatively generous text defining the composition of the South Sudanese citizenry – including persons with one great grandparent born in South Sudan – at a stroke potentially hundreds of thousands were denationalised, notwithstanding the provisions of the Constitution.35 Compounding the problem, the amendments contained 32 33 34 35 Machakos Protocol, 20 July 2002; Power Sharing Protocol, 26 May 2004. See, Interim National Constitution of the Republic of the Sudan, 2005, Art. 152. See Section 10(2) of the Sudanese Nationality Act 1994 (as amended in 2011). For an analysis of the new citizenship laws in both States see, B. Manby, The right to nationality and the secession of South Sudan, Open Society Initiative for East Africa, 2012. The Constitution provides that any person born to a Sudanese mother or father has an “inalienable right” to enjoy Sudanese nationality. It also permits dual nationality. 90