Mozambican citizenship
The Mozambican nationality determines a person's affiliation with the State Association of Mozambique with the associated rights and obligations.
Colonial times
Although there were Portuguese trading posts on the coast as early as the 16th century, a real colonial administration inland did not emerge until the 19th century. The tribal principalities in the south came under full Portuguese control only in 1895/6. The area of the Kionga Triangle, now part of the Cabo Delgado Province , was separated from the former German East Africa after the First World War .
Before 1962, only the resident whites had full Portuguese citizenship ( nicht-indígenas ). Before that, natives ( indígenas ) and mixed race ( mestiços ) could receive the equal status of assimilado if they had the appropriate education and became Catholic. Goans and other Indians who assumed Indian citizenship after the Indian occupation in 1962 were then expelled.
After the Carnation Revolution , Portugal quickly gave its remaining colonies independence. When drafting the Citizenship Act for this purpose: it was wrongly assumed that all colonial residents would automatically receive the new citizenships, which did not happen, so that thousands of descendants of the second and third generation of immigrants became stateless. A clarifying agreement between the mother country and the former colony was not concluded.
Until 1994 the government had only very limited domestic control, as the fighters of the fascist RENAMO controlled areas.
Since the liberalizing reforms in Portugal from 1994 onwards, it has been relatively easy for people from the former colonies to acquire citizenship there, so that fewer and fewer of them appear in the immigration statistics.
Migrant workers
Mozambique has been an important supplier of migrant workers since the Witwatersrand started gold mining in the late 19th century. According to the British ius soli rules, any children born there could certainly have been entitled to British subject status . However, the recruitment agreement of 1897 put a stop to this. The workers were now given passports. The office of a commissioner was created in Johannesburg in the form of a delegated Portuguese colonial commissioner who had no direct rights of intervention and was supposed to work in a similar way to a consul.
After the new South African constitution came into force in 1996, an amnesty was also granted for those illegally living in the country, whereupon thousands of Africans were naturalized to South Africa.
In 2009, the Mozambican Foreign Ministry planned a program to clarify the citizenship of potential Mozambicans in neighboring countries who, due to a lack of documents, lived there with an unclear or stateless status. It is estimated that a total of 14,000 can be registered in Tanzania, Malawi, Kenya and Zimbabwe.
A good 21,000 Mozambicans worked as guest workers in the GDR . These were expelled from the accession area within a very short time in 1990/1 . Only about 2000 remained.
Since 1975
A nationality law was passed in 1975. Implementing provisions were also issued. Changes to the law were made in 1982 for reacquisition in 1987 and in November 1990.
The leaders of the victorious FRELIMO , who had often spent years in exile in neighboring countries during the guerrilla struggle, were initially concerned with creating a demarcation between servants of the colonial masters and "good" citizens, which the exclusion criteria for membership in pro-Portuguese organizations and the like. Ä. Explained. The age of majority in citizenship matters was 18 from the start, even if the civil code of 1966, which was still applicable for the time being, assumed 21 years of age (until 1990).
Mozambican at the time of independence was defined as any person who
- had their place of residence in the country at the time of independence (foreign children / mixed race of legal age were allowed to opt against this within 90 days )
- people born in the country who had one Mozambican parent ("double ius soli")
- children born in the country of stateless persons and foundlings
- by declaration within 90 days after independence, provided that they were not active in the colonial-fascist organizations or as informants or officials:
- Foreigners not covered by the foregoing who have lived in the country for at least twenty years
- Foreigners younger than 40 years of age who are not covered by the foregoing and who have been resident in Mozambique for at least half of their age
- since 1987 all children of FRELIMO fighters born abroad, even if they were born before independence
Those born in the country after independence became Mozambicans from birth ( ius soli ). In addition, all children born abroad were born to Mozambican fathers (since 1987 also mothers) - with certain negative options for mixed marriages.
- Acquisition
The Ministry of the Interior is responsible.
By marriage: a foreigner with no criminal record, who married a Mozambican and took up residence in the country, could become a Mozambican by declaration if she gave up her old citizenship.
Men marrying in were only allowed to register as citizens after five years, unless they are stateless, then it works immediately.
By declaration , former FRELIMO fighters who had another citizenship and who gave up their citizenship could become Mozambicans since 1987.
Persons whose parents did not exercise the options for independence or birth within one year of reaching the age of majority.
Mozambican children born and living abroad by declaration of the legal guardian or, if they are of legal age, if they give up any other citizenships.
Requirements for naturalization were age of majority, five years main residence in the country and good reputation ( idoneidade civica ), also politically, but above all without a criminal record. The 1990 Constitution was more explicit in calling for previous citizenships to be given up. A separate law regulated restrictions that naturalized persons are subject to with regard to positions in the civil service.
Minors co-naturalized through the application have the possibility of a negative option one year after reaching the age of majority.
Re-naturalization, formalized by the 1982 law, upon request, required a Council of Ministers decision until 1987, since then it has been at the discretion of subordinate agencies. It is possible for former Mozambicans who are taking their main residence back in the country and are of good character, also in ideological terms.
Merit naturalizations: Since 1987, the Politburo of the FRELIMO Central Committee has been able to grant citizenship to people who have earned merit around the revolution without any preconditions.
- Dual statehood
Dual statehood was forbidden in the original law, and this was made even clearer in the 1990 constitution. An exception was provided for foreign nationals who were given a second citizenship by birth. You had to choose one when you reached the age of majority.
In the stormy time after the revolution, FRELIMO issued an edict that required dual nationals to renounce their second citizenship within 24 hours or to leave the country immediately with no more than twenty kilos of luggage.
The 2004 constitution no longer generally prohibits dual statehood. However, the use of associated rights in Germany is expressly excluded.
- loss
Automatically until 2004:
- when accepting a foreign nationality, since then by declaration of surrender after accepting another nationality
- in the event of unauthorized entry into a foreign civil service
Women who married a foreigner by making a declaration. Since 1987 they have been allowed to accept them again by declaration.
Withdrawal for “unworthiness” (ie political reasons) was carried out until 2004 by a Council of Ministers decision for citizens who acted against the interests of the country. However, the administrative order of 1975 also provides for a procedure that allowed withdrawal for other reasons. It was carried out by the central register, those affected could express their views within 60 days, the decision was made by the minister. The 1990 constitution narrowed the reasons: the country must have been damaged.
2004 Constitution
Comparatively detailed rules on citizenship are contained in Sections 5, 23-34 and 292 of the 2004 Constitution. The definitions of who has been a citizen since independence or by birth have hardly changed. The reason for earning a living through adoption is new. Automatic loss (not waiver by declaration) and withdrawal were eliminated.
But the constitution brought a. also the full equality of men and women, which in nationality law has existed to some extent since 1987. Women who marry foreigners can no longer lose their citizenship as a result. It is also planned that women who have lost their citizenship due to the abolished rule can retrospectively obtain it again by applying to the office. Spouses of both sexes now have a five-year waiting period and the requirement of “good character” before they can become Mozambicans.
The requirement to regulate details through a new law has not been implemented fifteen years after the constitution was passed. There is therefore legal uncertainty as to the extent to which the 1975 provision can still be applied, which different departments interpret differently. At the administrative level, this gives the opportunity to demand bribes.
2007 Constitution
The constitutional amendment tightened the naturalization requirements
- ten years of residence (since 1990)
- Legal age, legal capacity and adequate income
- good knowledge of Portuguese or one of the national languages
- good character ( idoneidade civica )
Naturalizations are published in the state gazette, whereupon they are entered in the central register.
Naturalized persons are excluded from the diplomatic service, the military, as judges, members of parliament or government.
Other laws
It should be noted that administrative structures often did not exist because of the civil war . Between 1992 and 1994 around three million internally displaced persons and around 1.1 million refugees from abroad returned home, including 200,000 right-wing fighters.
The birth certificate, which, based on the Portuguese model, contains information on nationality, is considered a verification instrument. The registration of all births, including those of refugee children, is required by law. In rural areas in particular, there is still a lack of implementation, on the one hand due to a lack of awareness among the population and on the other hand due to the infrastructure. There has been an administrative procedure since 2006 to have a person's identity officially established through notarized witness statements from the home village. A civil function of consulates to record foreign births is not planned. The introduction of a personal identification number, which began in 2018, is also intended to facilitate proof of citizenship at the central register.
The way to naturalization is theoretically open to recognized refugees like all other foreigners. However, since a passport of the home country is routinely required for other official acts, the access is effectively blocked. The responsible commission sees certain nationalities as economic refugees who are never recognized. B. Somalis and Zimbabweans (2008/9).
Mozambique did not join the stateless conventions of 1954 and 1961 until 2019.
See also
literature
- Durieux, A .; Essai sur le statut des indigènes portugais de la Guinée, de l'Angola et du Mozambique; Brussels 1955 (Académie Royale des Sciences Coloniales)
- Jerónimo, Patrícia; Country Report Mozambique ; Badia Fiesolana 2019 (GLOBALCIT)
- Manby, Brownen; Nationality laws of the Lusophone states in Africa; Network Timor - e-boletim Lei & Justiça, Ano 2 (2019), n.º 3 , 2019-12-01
Individual evidence
- ↑ Officially as a C mandate, fully integrated into Mozambique as early as 1920. In terms of citizenship law, this is not a problem, as all Germans living in DOA before the war had been deported.
- ↑ Uniformly regulated for the first time in 1917. Elaborated in more detail by the Estatuto do Indigenato founded in 1954 .
- ↑ Decreto-Lei № 308/75, June 24, 1975; repealed by Lei № 113/88, December 29, 1988.
- ↑ The group was financed first by the Rhodesian regime of Ian Smith , then the apartheid regime in South Africa. After 1984, the right-wing US Senators Jesse Helms and Bob Dole stood up for his sponsorship . The financing was channeled through the FRG by Gerhard Wessel , Klaus Kinkel and especially Eberhard Blum as BND bosses, which also gave shelter to numerous of these terrorists.
- ↑ engl. known as the Portugese East Africa Agreement or Mozambique Convention.
- ↑ In addition to the previous rules of the individual provinces of the Native Labor Regulation Act, № 15 of 1911 (Union) and Immigrants Regulation Act, 1913.
- ↑ Further reading: Harington, JS [et. al.]; Migrant labor in the gold mines of South Africa; Journal of The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Mch. 2004, pp. 65-71.
- ↑ Law passed by the FRELIMO Central Committee on June 20, 1975, in force on June 25.
- ↑ Decreto № 3/75 da 16 da Agosto da lei da nacionalidade. Modified: Decree № 5/88
- ↑ Lei № 2/82 de 6 de Abril de Reaquisição de Nacionalidade.
- ↑ Lei № 16/87 . Non-official Engl. Practice
- ↑ Recognized by Portugal as the legitimate representative of the Mozambican people in the Acordo de Lusaca , Sept. 7, 1974.
- ↑ The immediate reason was that numerous dual nationals used their second citizenship to send foreign currency out of the country, which was only possible to a limited extent for Mozambicans.
- ↑ In force January 25, 2005. Portuguese texts of the constitutions since 1990 (which first dealt with questions of nationality in the text). The 2018 constitutional amendment (Lei № 1/2018) did not bring about any change in the rules of citizenship.
- ↑ There are no plans for gay marriage, homosexuality has not been prosecuted since 1975, but was not decriminalized until mid-2015.
- ↑ Law of 2005.
- ↑ UNICEF estimated the proportion of registered children under 5 to be less than half in 2013; by June 2020 the rate had risen to 55%.
- ^ Lei de Revisão do Código do Registo Civil, 7 November 2018.