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.
Refugees returning to remote areas of South Sudan often struggle to get vital nationality documents. So UNHCR is taking the registration process to them. Farmer Juma Alzen Sebil ran for his life when gunmen attacked his hometown in 2016, shooting […]
Non-citizen Children of Libyan Women Still Blocked From Citizenship By Hanan M Salah On October 19, the Council of Ministers of the Libyan Government of National Unity (GNU) issued a new Decree stating that non-citizen children of Libyan women would be granted “all rights […]
Decree adopted by the Council of Ministers of the Libyan Government of National Unity (GNU). Download (in Arabic): Libya_GNU-decree_Oct2022
On July 25, 2022, Liberia enacted an amendment (Amendment Law) to the 1973 Aliens and Nationality Law (1973 Law). Among the key changes that the Amendment Law brought about are the replacement of a provision that allows only men to […]
Introduction Statelessness is a global phenomenon whereby a person is not recognised as a national of any State under the operation of its laws. The 1954 UN Convention relating to the status of Stateless persons and the 1961 UN Convention […]
by Christiana Nwaogu Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has flayed the Nigerian Constitution over its discriminatory stance against women on matters of citizenship, saying the federal government was moving to address and put an end to statelessness. Speaking yesterday […]
In a major development to prevent statelessness, Liberia has amended its nationality law to grant women and men equal rights to confer nationality to their children. The President of Liberia signed into law an act to amend the Aliens and […]
The law, which ends a 1973 ban on dual nationality, is partly due to extensive campaigning by Liberians in the diaspora. By Dounard Bondo Liberia’s president has signed into law a bill that amends the country’s alien and nationality law. The […]
By Cholo Brooks At long last, Liberia, Africa’s oldest Republic has finally allowed any person who is a negro or of negro descent, born in Liberia and a person born outside of the country, “whose father and mother were either […]
By Zeinab Mohammed Salih A demand by Sudan’s Hausa community to be recognised as traditional custodians of some land in Blue Nile state has erupted into deadly violence. Clashes broke out last weekend with members of another ethnic group that […]
Full title: “An Act to Amend or Nullify Certain Provisions of the Aliens and Nationality Law Relating to Citizenship and Restoring the Citizenship Rights Lost As a Consequence of Those Provisions” Preamble: Whereas: subsequent to the enactment of the Aliens […]
Editorial Recently, as reported in a local daily, Fulas in Liberia are seeking recognition through Legislation to be recognized as one of the original ethnic groups of Liberia. And the reason(s) underlying this appeal for recognition as one of the […]