(c) if neither the person nor his father were born in Sudan, he may, if he satisfies the requirements of para. (b)(ii), apply to the Minister to grant him Sudanese Nationality by birth. 26.With regard to a person born to Sudanese mother, who is Sudanese by birth, the law states that nationality by birth can be acquired only through application, and not automatic. Section 4 (3) states that 'a person born to a mother who is Sudanese by birth shall be entitled to Sudanese Nationality by birth whenever he applies for it'. 27.Furthermore, the Committee notes that as part of its definitions of terminology, the 1994 Nationality Act states that "Responsible Father'' means the father or the mother if guardianship was transferred to her by order of a competent court or if the child was born as a result of an unlawful relationship. 28.1t is based on these facts that the Complainants allege that the Sudanese nationality law discriminates on the ground of sex and country of origin in granting nationality at birth and deprives nationality on the basis of ethnical origin of the responsible father. 29.However, the Respondent State denies such allegations. The Respondent State submits that since the amendments made to the 1994 Sudanese Nationality Act 1994 in 2005, a child is entitled to acquire Sudanese nationality on the basis of his/her Sudanese mother, on an equal footing with Sudanese father. Regarding, the contents of Section 10 (2) of the Nationality Act, the Respondent States submits that the provision is the outcome of political and legal arrangements following the secession of South Sudan and evolution of a new sovereign and independent State. Such arrangements have been negotiated and agreed upon by the two countries in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The Respondent State argues that 'the wording of the said section does not provide that the Sudanese nationality shall be revoked in relation to a person whose ethnic origin is so or so, rather in relation to a person who, de jure or de facto, acquires the nationality of a region which had become a sovereign and independent State'. It is the opinion and submission of the Respondent State that Section 10 (2) of the Nationality Act (Amendment) specifically mentions the State of South Sudan on the premise that it was the State meant by the transitional provisions of the law entailed by the arrangements resulting from secession. Hence, the Respondent State argues that the law does not have any discriminatory purposes. 30.The Committee notes that as a Party to the African Children's Charter, the Government of the Respondent State is legally bound to comply with the requirement of non-discrimination as it is prescribed under article 3 of the African 7

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