Historic Zambia Judgment confirms birthright citizenship to refugee children born within Zambian territory and removes citizenship barriers for refugees
Published: 30/Apr/2026
Source: Global Strategic Litigation Council & Zambia Civil Liberties Union
The Constitutional Court of Zambia has issued a unanimous landmark judgment striking down a key provision that prevented refugees from accessing citizenship. In doing so, it opens the door to nationality and associated rights including education, healthcare and employment for thousands of refugees and children born to refugees in the country.
The case was brought by the Zambian Civil Liberties Union (ZCLU), which challenged Section 2 of the Citizenship Act 2016 for violating the Constitution by creating an unlawful barrier to citizenship. The impugned Section 2 required persons, including refugees, former refugees and children born to refugee parents to first obtain permanent residency before they could apply for citizenship.
In practice, this created a major legal barrier that excluded many refugees – including children born in Zambia and long-term residents without formal or secure residency status – from ever qualifying for nationality, as refugees and their children never qualified for permanent residents permits under the Immigration law.
Zambia currently hosts over 104,000 refugees and former refugees, many of whom are directly affected by the ruling. Among the refugee numbers are about 41,000 children who were born in Zambia from refugee parents.