Nationality, Migration and Statelessness in West Africa A study for UNHCR and IOM Bronwen Manby June 2015 UNHCR Regional Office for West Africa Route du Méridien Président Immeuble Faalo, Almadies Dakar, Senegal [email protected] Tel: +221 33 867 62 07 Fax: +221 33 867 62 15 International Organisation for Migration Regional Office for West and Central Africa Route des Almadies – Zone 3 Dakar, Senegal [email protected] Tel: +221 33 869 62 00 Fax: +221 33 869 62 33 @IOMROWCA / @IOM_News IOM Regional Office for West and Central Africa Web: www.rodakar.iom.int This report was prepared on the basis of field and other research during 2014. It was presented by the author at a Ministerial Conference on Statelessness in the ECOWAS region, held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, 23 to 25 February 2015 and subsequently circulated to ECOWAS Member States and other stakeholders for comment. This final version integrates the comments made by states and others who were consulted for the report. The tables and other information in the report have been updated to the end of 2014. This report may be quoted, cited, uploaded to other websites and copied, provided that the source is acknowledged. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of UNHCR or IOM. All names have been changed for the personal stories in boxes. Table of Contents List of Tables ........................................................................................................................................ i List of Boxes ......................................................................................................................................... i The fifteen ECOWAS Member States ................................................................................................... i Methodology and acknowledgements ............................................................................................... ii Acronyms ........................................................................................................................................... iii French-English vocabulary list ........................................................................................................... iii A note on terminology: “nationality” and “citizenship” .................................................................... iv 1. Summary .............................................................................................................................. 1 2. West African nationality laws ............................................................................................... 5 2.1. The principles of nationality law ............................................................................................. 5 2.2. Pre-colonial and colonial periods ............................................................................................ 6 2.3. Transition to independence .................................................................................................... 9 2.4. Trends since independence .................................................................................................. 11 2.5. Constitutional and legislative guarantees of the right to a nationality ................................ 12 2.6. Comparative analysis of nationality legislation .................................................................... 14 3. Nationality administration in practice ................................................................................. 32 3.1. Civil registration .................................................................................................................... 32 3.2. Systems for proof of nationality ........................................................................................... 35 3.3. Inaccessibility of naturalisation procedures ......................................................................... 38 3.4. Official and unofficial costs ................................................................................................... 42 4. Populations at risk of statelessness ..................................................................................... 44 4.1. The descendants of historical migrants ................................................................................ 44 4.2. Contemporary migrants and their children .......................................................................... 49 4.3. The situation of migrants “returned” to their country of origin........................................... 52 4.4. Refugees, former refugees, and the internally displaced ..................................................... 57 4.5. Border populations ............................................................................................................... 66 4.6. Populations affected by transfer of territory ........................................................................ 67 4.7. Nomadic and pastoralist ethnic groups ................................................................................ 71 4.8. Orphans and vulnerable children .......................................................................................... 74 5. An analysis of the ECOWAS legal and policy framework ....................................................... 81 5.1. Freedom of movement, residence and establishment ......................................................... 81 5.2. ECOWAS Citizenship .............................................................................................................. 83 5.3. ECOWAS and trafficking in persons ...................................................................................... 85 5.4. ECOWAS and pastoralism ..................................................................................................... 85 5.5. ECOWAS and the African Union ............................................................................................ 86 5.6. Implementation of the ECOWAS treaty and protocols in practice ....................................... 86 6. Conclusions ........................................................................................................................ 88 6.1. When is lack of identity documentation evidence of statelessness? ................................... 88 6.2. Law – and law reform – makes a difference ......................................................................... 90 6.3. Nationality laws in West Africa are ill-adapted to the reality of migration .......................... 91 6.4. Due process and transparency are key ................................................................................. 92 6.5. Nationality administration is uncoordinated and incoherent .............................................. 93 6.6. Regional cooperation mechanisms are badly needed .......................................................... 94 6.7. Nationality is politically sensitive .......................................................................................... 95 6.8. “Technical fixes” may not address the core problems ......................................................... 95 7. Recommendations .............................................................................................................. 97 7.1. An integrated approach to nationality systems .................................................................... 97 7.2. Accessions to and implementation of UN and AU treaties .................................................. 97 7.3. Law reform ............................................................................................................................ 97 7.4. Nationality administration .................................................................................................... 98 7.5. Documentation of populations at risk of statelessness ........................................................ 98 7.6. ECOWAS institutional support for inter-state cooperation and common norms ................ 98 7.7. The role of international partners ........................................................................................ 99 8. Annexes ........................................................................................................................... 100 8.1. Extract from General Comment on Article 6 of the ACRWC ............................................... 100 8.2. ACHPR resolutions 2013 and 2014 ..................................................................................... 105 8.3. ECOWAS States Parties to the UN Conventions on Statelessness ...................................... 108 8.4. Nationality legislation currently in force in ECOWAS States .............................................. 109 8.5. Bibliography ........................................................................................................................ 110 List of Tables Table 1: Right to nationality by descent ............................................................................................... 15 Table 2: Right to a nationality based on birth in the country ............................................................... 20 Table 3: Right to pass nationality to a spouse ...................................................................................... 22 Table 4: Right to acquire citizenship as an adult by naturalisation ...................................................... 24 Table 5: Rules on dual nationality ........................................................................................................