Stateless kids given citizenship lifeline

Source: Cape Times, 11/09/2016

PRETORIA: There is hope for stateless children born in South Africa
who do not have any citizenship, with the Supreme Court of Appeal in
Bloemfontein last week giving Home Affairs 18 months to streamline
regulations that will make it easier for other stateless children to
apply for citizenship.


This was sparked by an application on behalf of an eight-year-old girl
born in Cape Town in 2008 of Cuban parents. She was born in South
Africa, but Home Affairs refused to register her. This was because
neither of her parents were South Africans.


The Cuban government did not recognise her as a citizen, nor did the
South African government. Her mother came to South Africa in 2005 on a
treaty programme to work here as an engineer.


Her father joined the mother a year later. The mother was regarded as
a "permanent emigrant" under Cuban law due to her absence from the
country. She only became a permanent resident in South Africa in
2011.


When the child was born in 2008, she was issued with an unabridged
birth certificate.


However, she was not issued with an ID number as both her parents were
foreigners at the time.


The mother, with the help of Lawyers for Human Rights, turned to the
North Gauteng High Court, which ordered Home Affairs to declare her a
South African citizen. It was also ordered that the department amend
its regulations to make it easier for children born to foreigners in
this country to obtain citizenship.


Home Affairs, however, decided to take the matter on appeal to the
SCA, as it felt the high court order would open the floodgates for
other children born here to foreign nationals to become South African
citizens.


After waiting for two years for the matter to be set down on the SCA
roll, the department, on the day the case was to be heard, decided to
withdraw the appeal at the last minute. Home Affairs then agreed to
register this child as a citizen and to – within 18 months –
promulgate regulations that would make it easier for other children in
a similar position to become SA citizens.


Professor Ann Skelton, of the Centre for Child Law in Pretoria, said
Home Affairs could have settled this mater long ago, instead of
putting this family through the stress of ongoing litigation.