Glossary – Statelessness Encyclopedia Asia Pacific

Terms	Description
Concluding Observations	In each Country Factsheet, the layout of treaty ratification extends to include recent concluding observations pertaining to statelessness, relevant Universal Periodic Review information, and pledges undertaken by the country, if available. Concluding observations act as a method of monitoring and evaluation of State parties (countries who have ratified the UN treaty body) on the implementation of the rights included in UN treaty bodies. By ratifying a UN treaty, State
Universal Periodic Review	The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is also a monitoring and evaluation process on the implementation of human rights, but extends to cover all countries and all human rights. Every country is reviewed approximately every 4.5 years. Before the review, reports are submitted by the State, the UN, and non-state actors which include evaluation of the State’s progress in fulfilling human rights as well as recommendations for improvement. The review is then held in Geneva, where an interactive dialogue is held regarding the reports submitted where other States may make recommendations to the State under review. The State under review may either accept or note the recommendations provided by other States. After the review, the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review then submits a concluding report. States are expected to implement the recommendations provided in the UPR before the next session.
Pledges	At the 2023 Global Refugee Forum (GRF) and the High-Level Segment on Statelessness in 2019, several countries in the region made pledges towards the prevention, reduction, and elimination of statelessness. Any pledges regarding statelessness are included in the Country Factsheets along with, where possible, an analysis of the extent to which that country has fulfilled the pledges made.
Stateless person	A person “who is not considered a national by any State under the operation of its Law”30 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, Article 1.
Person at risk of statelessness	As a term without a single definition under international law, “at risk of statelessness” there are a number of interpretations of this term. This report adopts a broad definition of the term, focusing on persons and populations who lack relevant identity documents including birth registration, confirmation of citizenship or identity card (or a combination of these) that undermines their ability to meet requirements to prove their citizenship.
Undetermined Nationality	There is no absolute consensus on the definition of undetermined nationality under international law either. UNHCR has previously utilized the term “as an umbrella expression for the classification of the nationality status as ‘unknown’, ‘undetermined’ or ‘under investigation’. The term also covers cases where States do not classify a person as ‘stateless’, but rather use a specific term based on their domestic law.
Stateless Refugees	Article 1 of the 1951 Stateless Convention states that “any person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion… who not having a nationality and being outside of the country of his former habitual residence… is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.” Who is also “not considered a national by any state under the operation of its law
Discriminatory nationality laws	Discrimination towards specific gender, ethnic, racial, religious or other identities is a key cause of statelessness. Discriminatory nationality laws violate international law protecting the right to nationality without discrimination and can also lead to greater discrimination due to an individual’s stateless status. In the case of gender discriminatory laws for example, it can cause intergenerational statelessness if women cannot confer nationality to their children on the same basis as men.
Lack of legal safeguards against childhood statelessness	Safeguards against childhood statelessness include citizenship provisions that provide immediate or easy access to citizenship for foundlings and children born to stateless parents. Without such provisions, children who are denied the right to nationality at birth do not have legal pathways to be granted citizenship in the future and are vulnerable to the possibility of intergenerational statelessness.
Citizenship stripping	Citizenship stripping, or deprivation of nationality, are both used interchangeably to describe situations where the withdrawal of citizenship is initiated by the authorities of the State leading to statelessness.37 It is an extreme measure facilitated variously and cumulatively by legislative measures, administrative means, policy decisions and institutional practices at the national level in multiple countries.38 Citizenship deprivation can occur at time of state succession or independence as well as a punitive measure as a contemporary form of “banishment”.
Statelessness and climate change	This risk of statelessness from “disappearing states” impacted by climate-induced sea level rise currently remains a hypothetical question, with most experts agreeing that this scenario will not inevitably lead to statelessness. Before any states “disappear”, the impacts of relocation and an increase in displacement on communities and individual’s nationality status will need to be faced.39 It is this climate-induced displacement across borders rather than the “disappearance” of islands that poses the greatest risk of statelessness in the future and that is examined in this report.
Administrative barriers	Administrative barriers, including improper and non-implementation of laws across regions, can result in procedural hurdles in accessing or proving nationality, and in the most extreme cases, statelessness. The relationship between birth registration and statelessness, discussed in the administrative barriers section where relevant, can be complex. Birth registration functions as a prerequisite for proving one’s identity and citizenship — including place of birth and parentage — and a lack of birth registration can lead to statelessness. 40 However, one is not to presume that merely because a country has high rates of birth registration would automatically signify low rates of statelessness as birth registration alone does not equate to citizenship in many states. While this report includes a lack of birth registration as a cause of statelessness, each subregional section includes information on the link between birth registration and citizenship acquisition for each country.

Concluding Observations

In each Country Factsheet, the layout of treaty ratification extends to include recent concluding observations pertaining to statelessness, relevant Universal Periodic Review information, and pledges undertaken by the country, if available. Concluding observations act as a method of monitoring and evaluation of State parties (countries who have ratified the UN treaty body) on the implementation of the rights included in UN treaty bodies. By ratifying a UN treaty, State

Universal Periodic Review

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is also a monitoring and evaluation process on the implementation of human rights, but extends to cover all countries and all human rights. Every country is reviewed approximately every 4.5 years. Before the review, reports are submitted by the State, the UN, and non-state actors which include evaluation of the State’s progress in fulfilling human rights as well as recommendations for improvement. The review is then held in Geneva, where an interactive dialogue is held regarding the reports submitted where other States may make recommendations to the State under review. The State under review may either accept or note the recommendations provided by other States. After the review, the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review then submits a concluding report. States are expected to implement the recommendations provided in the UPR before the next session.

Pledges

At the 2023 Global Refugee Forum (GRF) and the High-Level Segment on Statelessness in 2019, several countries in the region made pledges towards the prevention, reduction, and elimination of statelessness. Any pledges regarding statelessness are included in the Country Factsheets along with, where possible, an analysis of the extent to which that country has fulfilled the pledges made.

Stateless person

A person “who is not considered a national by any State under the operation of its Law”30 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, Article 1.

Person at risk of statelessness

As a term without a single definition under international law, “at risk of statelessness” there are a number of interpretations of this term. This report adopts a broad definition of the term, focusing on persons and populations who lack relevant identity documents including birth registration, confirmation of citizenship or identity card (or a combination of these) that undermines their ability to meet requirements to prove their citizenship.

Undetermined Nationality

There is no absolute consensus on the definition of undetermined nationality under international law either. UNHCR has previously utilized the term “as an umbrella expression for the classification of the nationality status as ‘unknown’, ‘undetermined’ or ‘under investigation’. The term also covers cases where States do not classify a person as ‘stateless’, but rather use a specific term based on their domestic law.

Stateless Refugees

Article 1 of the 1951 Stateless Convention states that “any person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion… who not having a nationality and being outside of the country of his former habitual residence… is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.” Who is also “not considered a national by any state under the operation of its law

Discriminatory nationality laws

Discrimination towards specific gender, ethnic, racial, religious or other identities is a key cause of statelessness. Discriminatory nationality laws violate international law protecting the right to nationality without discrimination and can also lead to greater discrimination due to an individual’s stateless status. In the case of gender discriminatory laws for example, it can cause intergenerational statelessness if women cannot confer nationality to their children on the same basis as men.

Lack of legal safeguards against childhood statelessness

Safeguards against childhood statelessness include citizenship provisions that provide immediate or easy access to citizenship for foundlings and children born to stateless parents. Without such provisions, children who are denied the right to nationality at birth do not have legal pathways to be granted citizenship in the future and are vulnerable to the possibility of intergenerational statelessness.

Citizenship stripping

Citizenship stripping, or deprivation of nationality, are both used interchangeably to describe situations where the withdrawal of citizenship is initiated by the authorities of the State leading to statelessness.37 It is an extreme measure facilitated variously and cumulatively by legislative measures, administrative means, policy decisions and institutional practices at the national level in multiple countries.38 Citizenship deprivation can occur at time of state succession or independence as well as a punitive measure as a contemporary form of “banishment”.

Statelessness and climate change

This risk of statelessness from “disappearing states” impacted by climate-induced sea level rise currently remains a hypothetical question, with most experts agreeing that this scenario will not inevitably lead to statelessness. Before any states “disappear”, the impacts of relocation and an increase in displacement on communities and individual’s nationality status will need to be faced.39 It is this climate-induced displacement across borders rather than the “disappearance” of islands that poses the greatest risk of statelessness in the future and that is examined in this report.

Administrative barriers

Administrative barriers, including improper and non-implementation of laws across regions, can result in procedural hurdles in accessing or proving nationality, and in the most extreme cases, statelessness. The relationship between birth registration and statelessness, discussed in the administrative barriers section where relevant, can be complex. Birth registration functions as a prerequisite for proving one’s identity and citizenship — including place of birth and parentage — and a lack of birth registration can lead to statelessness. 40 However, one is not to presume that merely because a country has high rates of birth registration would automatically signify low rates of statelessness as birth registration alone does not equate to citizenship in many states. While this report includes a lack of birth registration as a cause of statelessness, each subregional section includes information on the link between birth registration and citizenship acquisition for each country.