North Africa

Algeria became a state party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees in 1963 and acceded to its 1967 Protocol in 1967 (hereinafter jointly referred to as the 1951 Convention). Algeria has also acceded to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons in 1964 but is not a party to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. In 2005 Algeria changed its national law to make it easier for women to give their children nationality at birth, a reform that protects children from being stateless. Algeria is the only country in the region with strict gender equality laws that protect women’s right to confer nationality on their children and non-citizen spouses.

There are no readily available official statistics on stateless people in Algeria; however, the issue of statelessness is often linked to the broader situation of refugees and asylum-seekers, particularly those of Western Saharan origin

Egypt is home to over a hundred million people and hosts an unknown number of refugees and migrants. Among them are potentially hundreds of thousands of individuals who are stateless or at risk of becoming stateless. These include Palestinians, nomadic communities, and refugees who fled conflicts in Syria, Eritrea, and other areas. Complicated birth registry procedures and inter-generational documentation gaps are critical obstacles to nationality. The confusing registration system for and sporadic recognition of refugee cards and the residency permits they may authorize create additional issues, such as access to services and the ability for refugees to register the births of their children.

Egypt has signed neither the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons nor the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. However, the country has taken meaningful steps to address statelessness, particularly through recent changes to its nationality law. Following a civil society-led advocacy campaign, Egypt reformed (in 2004 and 2011) its gender-discriminatory nationality law by extending citizenship to children born to Egyptian mothers, affecting what one source estimated to be between 400,000 to over one million children born to foreign fathers. Egypt subsequently enshrined these reforms in the 2014 Constitution. Additionally, Egypt is home to at least 150 000 Syrian refugees, who receive automatic refugee status determination from UNHCR. The children of Syrian refugees are at great risk of statelessness both because many Syrians do not have marriage certificates which Egypt will recognize, and because Syria’s nationality laws prevent children being born in Egypt to Syrian mothers and non-Syrian fathers from inheriting their mother’s Syrian citizenship.

Sources:

IHRC report, UNTS to confirm non-party, quick google to check current number of Syrian refugees (https://www.unhcr.org/eg/refugee-context-egypt)

Libya is a signatory to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Yet, the country still does not allow women married to foreign nationals to pass their nationality to their children. In certain circumstances, they do permit women to confer their nationality on their children born in the territory, for example where fathers are unknown, stateless, of unknown nationality or do not establish filiation.

The number of stateless individuals in the country remains unknown. Neither UNHCR nor any other official source offer a figure for the number of stateless people in the country. Nevertheless, there are indications that statelessness may be a significant concern in Libya. In particular, the emphasis on Libya’s Arab identity and related “Arabisation” policies implemented during the rule of former President Moammar Gadaffi (1969 – 2011) are reported to have created obstacles for access to citizenship by various non-Arab minority groups in the country. These include the Berber (Amazigh), Touareg and Tebu. Many members of these populations were denied official documentation at one time or another and some may indeed be stateless.

Morocco has not ratified the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons nor the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. There are no official statistics about the number of stateless people within the country.

In 2007, Morocco reformed its laws to enhance the ability of women to confer nationality to their children at birth—a measure that offers children vital protection against statelessness. Morocco accordingly withdrew its reservations to Article 9 of the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which requires States Parties to allow women to transfer their nationality to their children on an equal basis with men. Moroccan women are thus able to automatically transmit their nationality to their children, irrespective of the nationality of the father.

However, there are still some gaps in Morocco’s laws and policies that result in statelessness. For instance, the reformed laws do not allow for Moroccan women to confer their nationality to their foreign husbands. Furthermore, children of stateless refugees who arrive in Morocco are not guaranteed Moroccan nationality, even if they are born on the territory of Morocco. That is mainly because Moroccan laws only provides pathways to Moroccan nationality for children born to unknown parents, also known as “foundlings”, but not to children born to stateless parents whose identity is known.

Sources:

IHRC report

Tunisia has acceded to both the 1954 and 1961 Conventions related to statelessness. Through a 2010 amendment to the Nationality Code, Tunisia reformed its laws to enhance the ability of women to confer nationality to their children at birth. The Code further provides that children born to stateless parents are granted Tunisian nationality, as long as their parents have lived in Tunisia for at least five years.

Nevertheless, gaps remain. Provisions in Tunisian domestic law contravene its obligations under the two treaties, and the 2010 amendment – though progressive – lacks guidance, making it virtually impossible to implement. Statelessness remains a concern in Tunisia for migrants, foreign wives who acquired Tunisian citizenship but had their marriage annulled, children of single mothers, victims of trafficking and their children, and the children of ISIS affiliates. Furthermore, the 2014 Constitution, which provided greater guarantees and protections with respect to nationality rights, was controversially replaced in 2022 with a constitutio that delegates sole authority over nationality laws to the President. It is unclear how this change has affected nationality and statelessness in Tunisia, as there is no reliable data about stateless people in the country.

Sources:

IHRC report; google to check 2022 Constitution has not been replaced and if there is information about how it has affected statelessness (found nothing)

Notes:

In the IHRC report (page 53) it notes that, “nothing in Tunisian law allows Tunisian women to pass their nationality to their spouse — even if the non-Tunisian man marrying a Tunisian woman has no nationality.”

There are no official statistics for the number of stateless people in Mauritania, but in 2014 it has been estimated that there are around 30,000 Black Mauritanians living in exile who are stateless refugees.

Mauritania has international obligations towards stateless persons even if it hasn’t ratified the 1954 and 1961 conventions related to statelessness. The Haratines and Black Mauritanians are denied the right to nationality which results in statelessness and human rights challenges. Over 60,000 ‘Black Mauritanians’ were arbitrarily denationalized following a conflict in 1989, leaving them stateless, and immediately expelled from the country. Also, the Haratine, black African communities of slaves or former slaves, face persistent discrimination and lacks access to citizenship.

On the other hand, national mothers in Mauritania can confer nationality to their children when the father is unknown or stateless. Children born in Mauritania to Mauritanian mothers and foreign fathers can also obtain Mauritian citizenship; but, at the age of majority, these children can renounce their citizenship, leaving them stateless.