1. Reported Stateless Persons
The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI) estimates that there are at least 15 million stateless people globally. However, under reporting has been recognized by UNHCR as a major issue noting that their own estimate of 5.1 million stateless people globally is likely far below the true figure stating that:
The global figure remains an undercount as data on stateless populations or those of undetermined nationality is missing or incomplete for many countries, including some with known stateless populations. The lack of reliable quantitative data continues to pose challenges to effectively address statelessness and advocate for solutions.
Noting these limitations, according to UNHCR’s Global Trends Report 2022 (published in June 2023),over half of the world’s 5.1 million stateless persons reside in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2022, nearly 2.5 million stateless persons were reported to UNHCR by countries in the region. Between 2020 and 2021 the number of reported stateless persons in the Asia-Pacific region increased by over 120,000 people and by over 60,000 people between 2021 and 2022.
| Country | Stateless 1 | Stateless 2 | Refugee | ICCPR | ICESCR | ICERD | CRC | CEDAW |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | ||||||||
| Australia | ||||||||
| Bangladesh | ||||||||
| Bhutan | ||||||||
| Brunei Darussalam | ||||||||
| Cambodia | ||||||||
| Democratic People’s Republic of Korea | ||||||||
| Federated States of Micronesia | ||||||||
| Fiji | ||||||||
| Hong Kong SAR | ||||||||
| India | ||||||||
| Indonesia | ||||||||
| Japan | ||||||||
| Kazakhstan | ||||||||
| Kribati | ||||||||
| Kyrgyzstan | ||||||||
| Lao People’s Democratic Republic | ||||||||
| Malaysia | ||||||||
| Maldives | ||||||||
| Marshall Islands | ||||||||
| Mongolia | ||||||||
| Myanmar | ||||||||
| Nauru | ||||||||
| Nepal | ||||||||
| New Zealand | ||||||||
| Pakistan | ||||||||
| Palau | ||||||||
| Papua New Guinea | ||||||||
| People’s Republic of China | ||||||||
| Philippines | ||||||||
| Republic of China (Taiwan | ||||||||
| Republic of Korea | ||||||||
| Samoa | ||||||||
| Singapore | ||||||||
| Solomon Islands | ||||||||
| Sri Lanka | ||||||||
| Tajikistan | ||||||||
| Thailand | ||||||||
| Timor-Leste | ||||||||
| Tonga | ||||||||
| Turkmenistan | ||||||||
| Tuvalu | ||||||||
| Uzbekistan | ||||||||
| Vanuatu | ||||||||
| Viet Nam |
The dispersion of the stateless population across the region varies widely. The vast majority of the stateless population in the Asia-Pacific is within South and Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia has the largest population of stateless persons with over 1.4 million people affected by statelessness in the sub-region (1,444,363). South Asia has the second biggest population of reported stateless persons accounting for almost 1 million people (974,443).122 East Asia (766) and the Pacific (8,320) have markedly smaller registered stateless populations with Central Asia reporting higher figures (46,079).Of all the regions, Central Asia saw the biggest decline in reported stateless persons between 2021 and 2022, decreasing by over 10,000 persons.
The Asia-Pacific contains three of the five largest hosting countries globally, with Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Thailand combined reporting over 2.1 million stateless people in 2022.
At the same time, 21 of the 45 countries in the Asia-Pacific either did not report to UNHCR or reported zero stateless persons in 2022 (Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Hong Kong, Kiribati, Laos, Maldives, Marshall Islands, New Zealand, North Korea, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Taiwan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu) with over half of these countries(12of21) based within the Pacific.
Notably, Kyrgyzstan was the first country in the world to successfully resolve all known cases of statelessness in the country in July 2019. Since this time the country has identified new cases, reporting 203 stateless persons to UNHCR at the end of 2022.
2. Persons at Risk of Statelessness
Of the reported stateless population, 1.3 million persons are classified as in situ stateless persons, populations that have had multi-generational or long-term significant ties to their country of residence, with many having never left their country of birth. The largest population of in situ stateless people reside in States across Southeast Asia. This includes 630,000 ethnic Rohingya who remain in Myanmar, 574,219 people in Thailand (largely comprised of members of the ‘Hill Tribe’ communities), 75,000 persons of Vietnamese ethnicity in Cambodia128, a population of 26,811 people in Vietnam (including members of the Hmong community and people of Cambodian heritage) and over 20,000 persons of Chinese heritage in Brunei.
UNHCR has specifically stated that for six countries in the region (Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) they have “information about stateless persons, but no reliable data”. It is notable that all but one of these countries is situated within South Asia. Within these countries, there are a number of identified stateless populations not included in the UNHCR reporting figures including ethnic Bengalis and long-term Afghani refugees in Pakistan, and the Lhostshampa of Bhutan.
In East Asia and the Pacific, there are no major groups of recognized in situ stateless populations. In Taiwan, children born to undocumented migrant workers may be at risk of statelessness.
Across Central Asia, the Lyuli/Mugat (also referred to as Luli/Roma and Lyuli/Mughat; recognized in Tajikistan as Roma/Jughi; although the preferred term is Mugat/Mughat) ethnic group experiences low access to social services due to widespread discrimination. Historically, the Mugat community lived a nomadic lifestyle and never acquired documentation such as birth certifcates. While the community is no longer nomadic, the Mugat are at a much higher risk of statelessness as a result of remaining lack of documentation and discrimination. Members of the Mugat community represent minorities in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan in particular, with limited information about the ethnic group in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. An estimated 69,851 members of the Mugat community reside in Uzbekistan.
3. Stateless Refugee
Of the reported stateless population in the AsiaPacific just over 1 million (1,051,620) are stateless refugees. Almost the entire reported population of stateless refugees are members of the Rohingya community from Myanmar, with the vast majority hosted in South Asian states. This is reflected by the fact that the entire reported stateless population in South Asia of almost 1 million persons, are stateless refugees. Bangladesh is by far the largest host country for stateless refugees, with over 900,000 Rohingya refugees within their borders.
The true scale of the Rohingya population within South Asia likely far exceeds reported figures. Estimates have placed the Rohingya population India at 40,000 (twice the size of the reported 20,154 people) and as many as 400,000 Rohingya refugees have been estimated to reside in Pakistan (compared to the reported 47).
Southeast Asia is the sub-region hosting the second largest reported Rohingya population, with four countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand) reporting populations to UNHCR in 2021. Malaysia hosts over 100,000 Rohingya refugees, the largest population with Southeast Asia and the second largest reported population of any state in the Asia-Pacific behind Bangladesh, while Indonesia (641), the Philippines (5) and Thailand (198) all reported comparatively small population groups.
All the reported stateless population in the Pacific (8,320) are stateless refugees, asylum seekers or, in the case of Australia, persons in immigration detention (8,314). Nauru also reported 6 stateless Rohingya refugees in 2022.
As a region, East Asia has as mall refugee population compared to the other sub-regions, with Japan being the only country in the subregion to report a stateless refugee population consisting of 9 persons. There are growing numbers of stateless children born to refugees in Hong Kong.
Other groups of refugees affected by statelessness include, as many as 73,404 Tibetan refugees and more than 92,000 Sri Lankan refugees in India, approximately 1.4 million Afghani refugees in Pakistan, and 6,365 Bhutanese Lhostshampa refugees in Nepal, many of whom are stateless.
| Country | 2019 (year start) | 2020 (year end) | 2021 (year end) | 2022 (year end) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | – | – | – | – |
| Australia | – | 5,221 | 7,700 | 8,314 |
| Bangladesh | 854,704 | 866,457 | 918,841 | 952,309 |
| Bhutan | – | – | – | – |
| Cambodia | 57,444 | 57,444 | 75,000 | 75,000 |
| Democratic People’s Republic of Korea | – | – | – | – |
| Federated States of Micronesia | – | – | – | – |
| Fiji | – | – | – | – |
| Hong Kong SAR | – | – | – | – |
| India | 17,730 | 18,174 | 20,154 | 21,591 |
| Indonesia | 582 | 874 | 641 | 925 |
| Japan | 709 | 707 | 707 | 508 |
| Kazakhstan | 7,690 | 7,999 | 7,831 | 8,569 |
| Kiribati | – | – | – | – |
| Kyrgyzstan | 548 | 18 | 600 | 203 |
| Lao People’s Democratic Republic | – | – | – | – |
| Malaysia | 108,332 | 111,289 | 112,420 | 115,169 |
| Maldives | – | – | – | – |
| Marshall Islands | – | – | – | – |
| Mongolia | 17 | – | 17 | 17 |
| Myanmar | 600,000 | 600,000 | 600,000 | 630,000 |
| Nauru | – | – | 130 | 6 |
| Nepal | – | – | 465 | 452 |
| New Zealand | – | – | – | – |
| Pakistan | – | – | 47 | 55 |
| Palau | – | – | – | – |
| Papua New Guinea | – | – | 8 | – |
| People’s Republic of China | – | – | – | – |
| Philippines | 383 | 387 | 260 | 267 |
| Republic of China | – | – | – | – |
| Republic of Korea | 197 | 203 | 202 | 241 |
| Samoa | – | – | – | – |
| Singapore | 1,303 | 1,109 | 1,109 | 1,109 |
| Solomon Islands | – | – | – | – |
| Sri Lanka | – | – | 35 | 36 |
| Tajikistan | 4,616 | 6,385 | 6,110 | 5,391 |
| Thailand | 475,009 | 480,695 | 561,527 | 574,219 |
| Timor-Leste | – | – | – | – |
| Tonga | – | – | – | – |
| Turkmenistan | 4,714 | 3,924 | 4,280 | 4,527 |
| Tuvalu | – | – | – | – |
| Uzbekistan | 79,942 | 69,791 | 37,993 | 27,389 |
| Vanuatu | – | – | – | – |
| Viet Nam | 30,581 | 32,890 | 35,475 | 26,811 |
| TOTALS | 2,265,364 | 2,284,430 | 2,412,415 | 2,473,971 |
| Country | 2019 (year start) | 2020 (year end) | 2021 (year end) | 2022 (year end) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Asia | 97,510 | 88,117 | 56,814 | 46,079 |
| East Asia | 923 | 910 | 926 | 766 |
| Pacific | – | 5,221 | 7,838 | 8,320 |
| South Asia | 872,434 | 884,631 | 939,542 | 974,443 |
| TOTALS | 2,265,364 | 2,284,430 | 2,412,415 | 2,473,971 |
4. Undetermined Nationalities
Four states in the Asia-Pacific (Japan, Kiribati, Laos and Vanuatu) have publicly available English language census data from the last 10 years that categorizes foreign residents within the country as having “undetermined” or “unknown” nationality. Most notably in Japan’s 2020 census the nationality of 131,684 foreigners in Japan was categorized as “stateless and name of country not reported”. Smaller populations were recorded in the other three states — Kiribati (8), Laos (375), Vanuatu (27).
The citizenship status of several other groups across the Asia-Pacific is unclear or unconfirmed. While reported figures of stateless populations may be low in East Asia, thousands of individuals have undetermined nationalities. China’s 2010 census showed that at least 13 million children lacked household registration (hukou) preventing them from accessing the full rights of citizens. The status of ethnic minority groups in both Japan and Mongolia remains uncertain. As many as 26,312 ethnic Koreans in Japan remain categorized as “citizens of the Korean Peninsula (Korea or Chōsen)” and hold the status of “special permanent residents”. In Mongolia, thousands of ethnic Kazakhs have faced administrative barriers to reacquiring citizenship, which they lost in the early 1990s.
As many as 10-15,000 West Papuan refugees have lived in Papua New Guinea since the last three decades, who due to absence from West Papua have lost their Indonesian citizenship and have been unable to access Papua New Guinean citizenship through naturalization, despite possessing the right to under the law of Papua New Guinea.
In South Asia, two major groups in India and Nepal hold uncertain citizenship statuses. In India the 2019 National Register of Citizens in Assam excluded over 1.9 million Assamese, leaving them labelled as foreigners and the validation of their citizenship at the hands of the foreigners’ tribunals. As of December 2021, 143,466 persons were declared foreigners and another 123,829 cases remain pending before the tribunals. In Nepal, as many as 6.7 million people lack citizenship certificates. The UNHCR has noted that “while these individuals are not all necessarily stateless, UNHCR has been working closely with the Government of Nepal and partners to address this situation.”
In Southeast Asia as many as 810,443 residents of Sabah are non-citizens. This group represents the largest and most notable population of undetermined nationality within Southeast Asia as disagreement exists as to whether this population are stateless or should be considered citizens of either the Philippines, Malaysia, or Indonesia
5. Availability of Data
Of the 8 States in the South Asia sub-region, all experience issues with availability of data. Identifying the true status of stateless persons and persons at risk of statelessness is especially difficult in Afghanistan, Bhutan, and the Maldives where no stateless persons have been officially reported. In East Asia, there is a notable lack of reliable data, with the number of officially reported stateless persons in the subregion very low in comparison to the unofficial figures. The lack of available data is also noticed in the Pacific due to the limited connection NFA holds with local CSOs and other stakeholders on the ground. This disconnect between known stateless populations and official reported figures needs to be remedied through investment in better data collection as the absence of accurate data undermines efforts to bring about positive changes. Central Asia has comparatively higher data availability than other sub-regions.
