National laws usually grant nationality to children at birth based on a combination of two principles: the nationality of the parent(s) and the location of birth of the child. All African states provide for a child to acquire nationality based on descent, though some still discriminate on the basis of the sex of the parent.
The laws of around half of the countries in Africa provide automatic citizenship to children born in the territory themselves, or if their parents were also born there, or give the children of non-citizen parents the right to claim nationality if they are still resident there when they reach the age of majority. However, more than 20 countries either make no provision for children born on their territory to claim nationality if they have no other claim to nationality or do so only if the child is of unknown parentage.
The minimum requirement to prevent statelessness among children, required by the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, is for national laws to grant nationality to any child born in the territory who would otherwise be stateless. In addition, national laws should provide for children of unknown parents to be presumed to have the nationality of the country where they are found, for adopted children to acquire the nationality of their adoptive parents, and for children whose parents naturalise to acquire nationality at the same time.
Ending statelessness by 2024 is an ambitious goal, but NORCAP expert Sadiq Boateng is closing the gap with efforts to recognise Kenya’s stateless Shona people. In the 1960s, a group of Zimbabwean missionaries from the Shona ethnic group immigrated to…
When Botswana’s Court of Appeal delivered its recent decision on 709 people from Caprivi, living in the Dukwi refugee camp, deep in Botswana and close to the border with Zimbabwe, the judgment came as a serious blow to the hopes…
Cletus Mushanawani Mashonaland Central Bureau Chief THE Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission has called for marginalised communities like the Doma people from Kanyemba in Mbire and other border areas to be assisted in obtaining identification documents. Speaking at the end of…
By Max Bearak MUKURU KWA NJENGA, Kenya — With a nonchalance only teenagers have, the 13-year-old shook out the contents of a tote bag onto the table in the one-room shack she shares with her grandmother. Certificates and medals tumbled out. Sarah…
By Sandisiwe Shoba Without documentation, non-national children in South Africa are denied access to basic human rights. But with an inefficient asylum system in South Africa, the issues seem set to persist. “Many of the difficulties facing migrant and refugee…
By Cletus Mushanawani, Mashonaland Central Bureau Chief IT is an offence not to register a child within 42 days of birth and more needs to be done by way of publicity to ensure people know the importance of the requirement,…
1. The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI), the Southern African Nationality Network (SANN) and Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) make this joint submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), on the right to a nationality and human rights challenges…
By Yolisa Tswanya Cape Town – Nearly 30% of foreign children in youth and care centres in the Western Cape have no documents of proof of birth. This was among the findings of a breakthrough study by the Scalabrini Centre…
By Bronwen Manby Abstract This paper presents a synthesis of research findings on the identification needs of Sub-Saharan African and other migrants and refugees in Egypt and Morocco, particularly focusing on children born outside the country of nationality of their…
According to the report, which included more than 300 foreign national children, 40% of children have no evidence of their nationality. Kaylynn Palm CAPE TOWN – Close to 40% of foreign children entering South Africa are at risk of statelessness and…