September 07, 2020

The Côte d’Ivoire’s commendable plan to protect stateless people

topic:	Human Rights
located:	Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)
editor:	Bob Koigi

In a world where conservative figures place the number of stateless people in 76 countries at 4.2 million, their basic rights continue to be abused even as they struggle to access basic services including health care, government support and education by virtue of having no identification.

While this number could be higher, nations have come under criticism for not doing enough to guarantee the safety of the stateless people and in some instances perpetuating inequality and discrimination. Stateless people remain particularly vulnerable and in danger in the wake of COVID-19 as responses may not factor them and they may struggle in accessing healthcare should they need it.

Which is why the recent decision by Côte d’Ivoire to adopt Statelessness Determination Procedure geared towards protecting tens of thousands of people in the West African country without a nationality is laudable and deserves to be emulated the world over. The procedure that was given teeth by two regulations will set in motion a journey of officially recognising stateless people. This means that in due course they will receive identification documents which will allow them access to healthcare, join schools, buy and own property, receive government support and have access to financial services. The country says it wants this done as soon as possible.

The first of its kind in Africa, this development comes as the country seeks to formalise the status of an estimated 700,000 stateless people, a bulk of them migrants of Burkinabé descent, who couldn’t acquire Ivorian nationality when the nation became independent of French rule in 1960. The principle of dissolution of former states is said to be among the leading causes of statelessness affecting about 600, 000 people in Europe alone.

West Africa, which has a high number of stateless people in Africa, has made significant strides in giving them recognition in law; it became the world’s first region to formalise and sign a binding plan to end statelessness in 2017 under the auspices of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS.

In matching word and deed, Côte d’Ivoire and by extension the West African nations have set a commendable pace that the rest of the world should emulate. In this time and age, every human deserves an identity and a country to call their own.

Image by Peter H

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