Mauritania

In Mauritania, new efforts to strengthen birth registration risk perpetuating a historical caste system. Slavery continues to be practiced today as part of a caste system between the Bidhan or ‘White Moors’ of Arab-Berber descent, and the Haratin or ‘Black Moors.’ The majority of Haratines do not have identity documents. The requirements for access to identification documents are difficult or impossible for the Haratine community to fulfil. A biometric civil registration process began in 2011, but requires a range of official documents which many lack and have difficulties replacing. A census that Mauritania began conducting in 2013 does not include Haratin as a recognized ethnic group that could appear on national IDs, which produces non-citizenship and statelessness for Haratins. Both UN special rapporteurs on racism and extreme poverty have described the ongoing registration process as discriminatory against the Haratin and Afro-Mauritanians.