- Text size
| 
| 
| 
- Email this document
- Printable version
| Title | Eritrea: Whether persons who, and whose parents were, born in Eritrea prior to 1991 and who were deported from Ethiopia after the 1998 war, who never served in any military, or paid taxes/levies to Eritrea, or voted in the 1993 Eritrean referendum would be accepted as Eritrean citizens by birth |
| Publisher | Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Country | Eritrea |
| Publication Date | 26 September 2002 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | ERT39778.E |
| Reference | 2 |
| Cite as | Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Eritrea: Whether persons who, and whose parents were, born in Eritrea prior to 1991 and who were deported from Ethiopia after the 1998 war, who never served in any military, or paid taxes/levies to Eritrea, or voted in the 1993 Eritrean referendum would be accepted as Eritrean citizens by birth, 26 September 2002, ERT39778.E, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3f7d4d910.html [accessed 4 June 2012] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Eritrea: Whether persons who, and whose parents were, born in Eritrea prior to 1991 and who were deported from Ethiopia after the 1998 war, who never served in any military, or paid taxes/levies to Eritrea, or voted in the 1993 Eritrean referendum would be accepted as Eritrean citizens by birth
The Eritrean constitution of 1996 states in Article 3 (1) Any person born of an Eritrean father or mother is an Eritrean by birth and (2) Any foreign citizen may acquire Eritrean citizenship pursuant to law (UNPAN 2000).
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2001 states the following regarding citizenship for Ethiopians of Eritrean descent in reference to deportees from Ethiopia during the 1998-2000 war:
Those who no longer had connections in Eritrea were placed temporarily in camps with IDP's [internally displaced persons] before being settled among the general population. To facilitate the deportees' integration into society, the Government provided them with documentation that was valid for 6 months and identified them as deportees. If, during that time, the deportees could find three Eritrean witnesses willing to testify to their Eritrean ties, the Government issued them documentation of Eritrean nationality and considered them to be permanent citizens. For the small minority of deportees who could not demonstrate Eritrean ties, the Government granted them identity documents that specified that they were Ethiopian but permitted them to stay in the country (Country Reports 2001, 4 Mar. 2002).
A senior researcher in the Africa division of Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated in a telephone interview that although the Eritrean government has welcomed Ethiopian citizens of Eritrean origin into the country and has provided them with humanitarian and resettlement assistance along with refugee identification papers, they have stopped short of giving them citizenship (24 Sept. 2002). The HRW researcher said that the Eritrean authorities consider these people to be Ethiopian citizens (ibid.).
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Branch Office for Canada obtained the following information from their office Eritrea:
The UNHCR office in Asmara is not aware of persons who have been deprived of their Eritrean citizenship, or denied Eritrean citizenship because they failed to pay taxes/levies to the Government, failed to vote in the referendum or failed to serve in the military (26 Sept. 2002).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2001. 4 March 2002. <http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001/af/8370pf.htm> [Accessed 25 September 2002]
Human Rights Watch (HRW). New York. 24 September 2002. Telephone interview with senior researcher, Africa Division.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Branch Office for Canada. Ottawa. 26 September 2002. Correspondence from Senior Protection Officer.
United Nations Online Network in Public Administration and Finance (UPAN). 2000. "Eritrea Constitution." <http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/cafrad/unpan004654.pd> [Accessed 25 September 2002]
Additional Sources Consulted
IRB Databases
Keesing's Record of World Events
NEXIS
U.S. Committee for Refugees. August 2001 "Getting Home is Only Half the Challenge: Refugee Reintegration in War-Ravaged Eritrea."
Unsuccessful attempts to obtain information from the Canadian embassy in Addis Ababa.
Internet sites including:
Africa Confidential
Africa Online
AllAfrica.com
Amnesty International (AI)
BBC News Africa
East African Standard
Global IDP
Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Integrated Regional International Network (IRIN)
United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR)
U.S. Committee for Refugees
U.S. Department of State
U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
World News Connection (WNC)
Search engines including:
Topics: Military service,
- Search
- Regions
- Countries