The African Charter, in common with all other international human rights treaties, prohibits discrimination in enjoyment of the other rights the Charter sets out. In the case of nationality, however, the law assumes some level of discrimination – because one of the criteria for acquisition of nationality is based on descent – and this is permitted by international law. However, certain types of discrimination are impermissible.
The most common form of discrimination in nationality laws is that men and women have different rights to transmit their nationality to their children. Although discrimination based on gender is rapidly reducing, there are still more a dozen countries in Africa that give a woman reduced rights to transmit nationality to a child, and more who limit transmission to her husband. In Africa, discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity and (in North Africa) religion, is also in place in around a dozen countries.
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Article 18) also prohibits discrimination against disabled people in relation to the right to a nationality. Several countries have requirements for good health in relation to naturalisation that would not be in compliance with this provision.
In many countries there is no discriminatory element in the law itself but discrimination is pervasive in practice.
Bronwen Manby takes us through her new book Citizenship in Africa: The Law of Belonging. In an important contribution to the literature on statehood, citizenship and identity in Africa, this piece highlights the importance of formal legal frameworks and contests over citizenship…
Highlights from Africa: On 25 and 26 October, UNHCR organized the annual “Nationality and Statelessness Moot Court Competition and Conference” in Mutare, Zimbabwe. The competition and conference aims to raise awareness and strengthen knowledge on nationality and statelessness among future…
West Africa Insight Vol.6, No.4, December 2018, Special Edition Table of Contents: Editorial Nationality, Statelessness and Legal Identity in West Africa, by Bronwen Manby Seeing and being seen Citizenship on Sierra Leone’s borders, by Luisa Enria “I am Ghanaian and…
Decision No. 002/2018; adopted at the 31st Ordinary Session of the ACERWC, May 2018; published 29 November 2018. IV: Decision of the Committee 104. For the foregoing reasons, the Committee finds that the Respondent State is in violation of its…
Botul and her four children are members of Kenya’s Nubian community. Despite the fact that Nubians are Kenyan citizens, these Muslim-majority ethnic and tribal groups are forced to undergo a lengthy and discriminatory vetting process to obtain the identity documents…
By Bronwen Manby Key findings and recommendations Extent of statelessness It is not possible to establish the number of stateless persons in the Partner States of the East African Community (EAC), but it is clear that there are tens of…
By Bronwen Manby Citizenship in Africa provides a comprehensive exploration of nationality laws in Africa, placing them in their theoretical and historical context. It offers the first serious attempt to analyse the impact of nationality law on politics and society…
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in collaboration with the Ministry of Security and Social Development of the Republic of the Sudan organized a high-level workshop on the Sudanese women’s right to (pass) citizenship, on…
Two-thirds of Liberians want the exclusive black citizenship law in the country to be maintained, a new Afrobarometer survey reveals. The same proportion say only Liberian citizens should be allowed to own land. President George Weah has described these citizenship…
CRC/C/MRT/CO/3-5 Extract: Birth registration The Committee welcomes the measures taken to promote birth registration, including reforms of the civil registration system, introduction of biometric registration and expansion of registration centres. However, it remains concerned about the persisting low rate of…