By Mirna Adjami<\/p>\n
Executive Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire became party to the two international statelessness conventions in 2013 and has committed to resolving statelessness in its territory. Doing so will require uncovering and addressing the gaps in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire\u2019s nationality system, which encompasses the laws and regulations on nationality, civil status (including birth registration), and the identification of nationals and foreigners, as well as how the laws are implemented \u2013 or not \u2013 in practice. C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire\u2019s migration and political context form the fundamental backdrop to this analysis.<\/p>\n C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire is a country of immigration. Due to colonial forced migration policies, an estimated 13% of the country\u2019s population at independence in 1960 were immigrants. At the time, \u201cimmigrants\u201d referred to those deemed of \u201cforeign origin,\u201d i.e. who had not been born in the territory of C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire but had settled there since their arrival. Net positive migration to C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire continued for four decades until the end of the nineties. The majority of immigrants to C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire come from neighboring West African States, in particular Burkina Faso (formerly known as Upper Volta), Mali, and Guinea. According to the 2014 census, 24% of C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire\u2019s population \u2013 i.e. 5,490,222 of a total population of 20,671,331 self-identifies as \u201cforeign,\u201d1 i.e. not having Ivorian nationality, although strikingly, 59% of those identified as \u201cforeign\u201d were born in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire.<\/p>\n The 1961 Nationality Code enshrined as its fundamental principle that a child must be born to at least one Ivorian parent, regardless of place of birth, to automatically acquire Ivorian nationality by origin. Furthermore, the 1961 Nationality Code contained two special avenues for foreigners to acquire Ivorian nationality: a one-year facilitated naturalization program was available for foreigners present in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire at independence, whereas the possibility of acquisition of Ivorian nationality by declaration existed for children of migrants born in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire. Amendments made to the Nationality Code in 1972 closed the possibility of acquisition of Ivorian nationality by declaration for those born in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire to foreign parents; the amendments also did away with a provision that automatically granted Ivorian nationality to children born in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire to unknown parents. In practice, not one foreigner acquired Ivorian nationality during the one-year window for facilitated naturalization and only 36 individuals acquired Ivorian nationality by declaration while the procedure was available. Yet despite the fact that few foreigners formally acquired Ivorian nationality by law, many foreign migrants and their descendants exercised the rights of Ivorian nationals and were treated as such as a result of President Houphou\u00ebt-Boigny\u2019s liberal policies from independence through the early 1990s.<\/p>\n C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire\u2019s laws pertaining to civil status and identification play an important role in determining nationality, but have sowed some confusion. Birth registration records a child\u2019s place of birth and parentage. Although proof of birth registration is fundamental for any individual to either obtain proof of attribution of Ivorian nationality by origin or acquisition of Ivorian nationality by any other means, a significant part of the population born in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire have never had their births registered with civil registrars pursuant to law. For various reasons, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire\u2019s civil status system remains weak. In parallel, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire\u2019s systems for identification of nationals and foreigners have been subject to frequent amendment by law, and have been fundamentally arbitrary in practice over the decades. Only during two periods, namely between 1998 and 2000 and since C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire began a new process of \u201cordinary identification\u201d in 2014, has it been required of all individuals to present a birth certificate and a nationality certificate \u2013 the only document by law that confirms an individuals\u2019 nationality \u2013 to obtain an Ivorian identification card.<\/p>\n The great divide between C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire\u2019s laws and their implementation in practice, combined with a decade of civil war and conflict, has contributed to the important prevalence of statelessness in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire. Statelessness is most likely to occur among a number of identified categories, such as: historical migrants and their descendants; children of unknown parents; border populations; refugees and returnees, particularly refugee children born abroad, and displaced persons; some categories of contemporary migrants or trafficked persons; and individuals refused Ivorian identification cards for the 2010 elections. Determining whether an individual is stateless in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire is a complex task. It requires an analysis on an individual basis, particularly given that migrants and their descendants from neighboring West African States can acquire nationality of their foreign parents by descent. As such, it is impossible to provide an accurate estimate of the numbers of stateless persons in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire.<\/p>\n This report sheds light on the ways statelessness can arise through the cracks in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire\u2019s nationality system. It concludes with a number of recommendations on necessary steps \u2013 such as nationality law reform, better identification of those who are stateless or at risk of statelessness, strengthening of the civil status system, and the transparent and uniform identification of nationals and foreigners \u2013 to resolve statelessness and ensure respect for the right to nationality.<\/p>\n