Forced Displacement, Citizenship and Statelessness in Africa
Published: 1/Nov/2009
Source: International Refugee Rights Initiative
Report of a Civil Society Consultation on African Union Mechanisms and the Protection of Refugees, Internally Displaced Persons and Citizenship Rights
The following report provides a narrative account of a consultation that took place in Kampala, Uganda in October 2009. At the consultation, African civil society organisations and experts1 convened to discuss how civil society could promote the enforcement of regional mechanisms for the protection of persons without effective state protection, including refugees, internally displaced persons and the stateless. The new African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) was recognised as a milestone in the creation of legal mechanisms relating to displacement in Africa. It was noted that with respect, then, to the rights of the displaced the major challenge was implementation of these standards. With regard to stateless persons, there was a notable lack of standards. It was also noted that statelessness and discrimination in the grant of nationality can be both a cause and a consequence of forced displacement in Africa.
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