Reclaiming Legal Identity and Human Dignity: Rethinking Statelessness and Refugee Documentation for Congolese Populations in Burundi Through Rights-Based Policy and International Legal Reform

Decades of regional instability and protracted forced displacement in the sub-region of Central Africa led to statelessness among Congolese refugees living in Burundi, with its capital, Bujumbura. I would remind you that the Democratic Republic of Congo has now a member of the East African Community since 2022. Hundreds of thousands of Congolese have been hosted there since, but the Burundian government has failed not only to offer them identification, documentation or a practical route to naturalization, but also failed to provide this for tens of thousands of them who have lived there for over 20 years. In the absence of any legal civil status documents (for example: birth certificates, national ID cards, or refugee cards), refugees face extreme difficulty accessing basic services like education, health care, formal employment and civil status. This legal vacuum not only constitutes a breach of the most basic human rights of these people following the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, but perpetuates their inter-generational exclusion as well as administrative invisibility. This article presents an interdisciplinary analysis of the legal and structural framework of statelessness in Burundi. Using an interdisciplinary approach that combines doctrinal legal analysis, policy analysis, and comparative design inquiry, the research finds significant structural deficiencies in national and regional legal frameworks, namely, discriminatory nationality laws, poor enforcement of pivotal international treaties and poor inter-agency coordination in civil registration. The paper also reflects critically on the limitations of existing refugee documents issued by UNHCR and Burundian authorities. To move forward, the paper presents an original rights-based model focused on a national “Refugee Green Card” regime (a transitional legal identity). This model would provide Congolese refugees with a formal, biometrically secured legal status, affording them access to basic services and a pathway to citizenship. Based on decentralized identity on the blockchain, and consistent with the East African Community (EAC) integration goals first and foremost, protection, empowerment, and legal inclusion are emphasized in this model. And, as this paper concludes, the return of legal identity to stateless refugees is not just a legal and moral imperative, but it is rather a practical means to contribute to better governance, regional solidarity and social cohesion in fragile host states such as Burundi.