New On the CRAI Website: 5 May 2015

Below are the new materials added to the CRAI website 29 April – 5 May

News articles Kgafela II & Family Have No Sa Passports, Ids The Monitor “We are ridiculed as “batho ba Botswana”(people from Botswana) when we claim our legitimate birth right.’’ It has come to light that contrary to general assumptions that Bakgatla King Kgafela II  has attained South African citizenship, the king together with his family and uncle Ramono are being frustrated by the South African government in their efforts to get South African passports and Identity cards. This frustration has been laid bare by none other than Kgafela himself, writing  for his blog, the king’s journal. Read more. Zimbabwe: Dual Citizenship – the People Have Spoken The Herald This writer was under the impression that the dual citizenship debate was now water under the bridge. How could it not be? First there is Chapter 3 in our Constitution, then there are the two cases of Mutumwa Dziva Mawere v Registrar- General and three others. This was one of the first cases to be heard before the ConCourt since its inception under the new Constitution. Then there was the case of Farai Daniel Madzimbamuto v Registrar-General and three others. But here is a challenge to every Zimbabwean out there, check your passport. Even if you collected it yesterday you will see, “A citizen of Zimbabwe who is 18 or above may not be a citizen of another country. A citizen of Zimbabwe who makes use of the passport of another government commits an offence . . .” Read more. CEDEAO : des experts se penchent sur les solutions d’une immigration responsable La Nouvelle Tribune Depuis le lundi 27 avril, une réunion d’experts de haut niveau se tient au Novotel de Cotonou sur la gestion de l’identité et l’Etat civil. Organisée par la Cedeao avec l’appui du projet « Appui à la libre circulation des personnes et la migration en Afrique de l’Ouest »(Fmm west Africa), elle a permis de proposer des modalités pour assurer un meilleur processus d’inscription à l’Etat civil. Chefs d’agence, fonctionnaires de haut niveau de l’immigration et des services de l’état civil des Etats membres de la Cedeao, fonctionnaires des directions en charge de la libre circulation et du tourisme de la Cedeao, experts de l’Organisation internationale pour les migrations(Oim) et experts internationaux en matière de l’identité…tous sont à Cotonou pour participer à cette réunion. Lisez plus.

Other documents Nationality laws – a new battleground for women’s equality openDemocracy The annual session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, held in New York last March, marked 20 years of the Beijing Declaration – where states committed to ensure equality between men and women. The session saw UN member states, civil society and the wider gender equality community join together to celebrate progress and outline challenges faced in advancing global gender equality. Read more. The Campaign to End Statelessness, May 2015 Update UNHCR A new study on ‘The Right to a Nationality in Africa’ was launched on 29 January 2015 at an event jointly organized by the African Union Commission, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and UNHCR, as part of the 24th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Keynote speakers included President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, Mr. Alassane Ouattara, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr. Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Mrs. Zainabo Sylvie Kayitesi and Special Rapporteur on Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons for the African Commission, Mrs. Maya Sahli Fadel and High Commissioner António Guterres. The speeches underscored the need for reforms of nationality laws and documentation procedures throughout the continent, the importance of resolving large-scale situations of statelessness which can fuel displacement and instability, and the urgent need for a Protocol on the Right to a Nationality in Africa. Read more. Reflections on the future of legal identity The World Bank What is “legal identity” and what might its future hold? This was the question discussed at the Future of Legal Identity Colloquium in The Hague, Netherlands last week. At this workshop, a variety of social scientists, historians, policy researchers and development practitioners examined the various forms of civil registration and identification currently used and introduced around the world. Participants considered the opportunities and implications of the choices that poor states, in particular, currently face. Read more. Mugabe Still to Align Laws with New Constitution The Citizenship of Zimbabwe Act must be amended to bring it into line with Chapter 3 of the Constitution, which protects the rights of citizens and limits the circumstances in which people can be deprived of their citizenship. In particular: Citizens by birth must be protected from being deprived of their citizenship, and the grounds on which citizenship may be revoked must be adjusted. The grounds on which citizens by registration may be deprived of their citizenship must be limited to those set out in section 39 of the Constitution. Foundlings [children under the age of 15 of unknown parentage who are found in Zimbabwe] must be accorded their right to Zimbabwean citizenship. The new Citizenship and Immigration Board mandated by section 41 of the Constitution must be established. Read more.