If
all goes as planned, statelessness should be eradicated in West Africa by the
year 2024 as ECOWAS member states have adopted six concrete strategies to
tackle the rising phenomenon.
ECOWAS
ministers responsible for nationality issues on Tuesday adopted a Regional Plan
of Action to Eradicate Statelessness in West Africa otherwise known as the
Banjul Plan of Action, 2017 – 2024.
The
successful implementation of the plan would mean that the over 1 million
statelessness people – people without nationality of any state – in West Africa
would all have the requisite nationality documents and going forward on one
would be stateless.
The
Banjul Plan of Action was adopted at the 2nd ministerial conference on
statelessness in West Africa organised by the ECOWAS Commission with the
support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
It
was hosted by The Gambia government at the Kairaba Beach Hotel in Kololi on 9
May 2017.
The
ministerial conference was preceded by a two-day expert meeting on 7 and 8 May
at the same venue during which experts from within and outside West Africa
thoroughly reviewed the anti-statelessness plan to ready it for adoption by the
ministers.
The
adoption of the regional plan of action was in line with the Abidjan Declaration,
the first sub-regional document adopted by all the 15 member states of ECOWAS
as an explicit commitment to fight against statelessness.
The
declaration was adopted at the first ministerial conference on stateless in
West Africa held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in February 2015.
UNHCR
Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Volder Turk said the strong
engagement of West African countries on the issue of statelessness underscores
the increasing awareness of the extent and the causes of the problem of statelessness
in the sub-region.
He
said studies have identified that statelessness in West Africa is mainly caused
by lack of legal safeguards in nationality laws, and administrative obstacles
to accessing prove-of-nationality documentation.
Statistics
indicates that up to 30 per cent of people in the ECOWAS region do not have
sufficient documentation proving their identity claim to a nationality.
“This
problem will grow as long as there continues to be a high number of children
born in the region who do not have access to birth certificates,” Mr Turk
said.
In
West Africa and around the world, several nationality laws do not yet provide
equal rights for women to pass their nationality on to their children, and some
limit nationality on the basis of race or ethnicity.
Therefore,
the UNHCR assistant high commissioner said the reform of nationality laws and
the establishment of legal guarantees to ensure that all children have a right
to a nationality at birth are essential.
However,
he noted the regional plan to eradicate statelessness in West Africa is “a
unique and inspiring development”.
Mr
Turk said by adopting the regional plan – the first regional bloc to do so –
ECOWAS has set an example not only for the rest of the continent, but for the
world and the UNHCR would do whatever it can to support the sub-region in this
regard.
Muhammed
Ibn Chambas, special representative of the UN secretary general for West Africa
and the Sahel, said the implementation of the plan of action should contribute
to the eradication of the phenomenon of statelessness.
He
said the action plan, when successfully implemented, should prevent
statelessness and redeem millions of West Africans from being vulnerable to
marginalised living, exploitation by criminal groups, risk of human trafficking
and political and religious radicalisation.
“It
will enhance the stability of the state,” he said of the Banjul Plan of Action,
adding that his office would support the international and regional efforts
being undertaken to eradicate statelessness.
According
to experts, the Banjul Plan of Action is based on the commitments and
recommendations made in the Abidjan Declaration.
It
entails support measures that ECOWAS and UNHCR can provide to member states,
and also spells out mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of the Abidjan
Declaration.
