Ethiopia says it will issue national identity cards for the nearly 1,000 Rastafarians who long have been seen as stateless in the East African nation. Thursday's announcement means they can enter without visas and live without residence permits. A foreign ministry spokesman tells The Associated Press that three generations of Rastafarians have long been unable to enter and leave easily. One member of the Rastafarian community who arrived in Ethiopia in 1982, Ras King, tells the AP everyone is "overjoyed" at the new identity cards. Rastafarianism has followers who believe the Ethiopian emperor is god.

Source: Ethiopian News July 27, 2017 15:33 UTC