Brunei Darussalam (Brunei) Population

1. Reported Stateless Persons

Brunei reported 20,863 stateless persons to UNHCR in 2022. This is a sizable portion of the population, which was 455,400 persons as of 2022. This reported figure has remained at a similar level for the last 10 years since the 2011 Brunei census reported 20,500 stateless persons in the country. The reported population is likely to only include stateless persons who are regularized and have a certificate of identity. International stakeholders noted with concern in a joint UPR submission over the lack of transparency on how the reported population data was acquired, making it difficult to monitor how the situation of statelessness in the country is evolving. In particular, the US Department of State reported in its 2012 Human Rights Report for Brunei that there could be as many as 150,000 stateless persons in Brunei, whereas the Brunei government again reported only around 20,000 persons. The 2022 Human Rights Report also notes that recent statistics on the stateless population in Brunei are unreliable. There is also no available data on stateless persons without formalized residency.

According to the US Department of State’s 2021 Human Rights Report for Brunei, most stateless persons in Brunei were born in the country from families of Chinese heritage who have resided in Brunei for multiple generations and have permanent residence in Brunei. As of 2014, only half of the ethnic Chinese population in Brunei had acquired Brunei citizenship. Barriers to their access to citizenship include being excluded from the eligible ethnicities for citizenship in legislation, not being able to provide evidence of legal residence, and inability to pass the Malay language test.

Brunei reported 20,863 stateless persons to UNHCR in 2022. This is a sizable portion of the population, which was 455,400 persons as of 2022.

2. Persons at Risk of Statelessness

Children of a Brunei citizen mother and non-citizen father are at risk of statelessness due to gender discriminatory provisions which limit women’s ability to confer nationality to their children on the same basis as men. Also at risk are indigenous groups which experience significant barriers to birth registration, including the Dusun and Iban populations. The US Department of State also identified the foreign wives of citizens as persons at risk of statelessness. Between 2017 and 2021, 1,975 stateless persons gained citizenship, with most of this group being foreign wives, not ethnically Chinese persons.

Reported stateless persons to the UNHCR
Country 2019 (year start) 2020 (year end) 2021 (year end) 2022 (year end)
Brunei Darussalam 20,863 20,863 20,863 20,863

Source: UNHCR, Global Trends: Forced Displacement from 2019-2022.