1. Reported Stateless Persons
Only three States in the Pacific reported stateless populations to UNHCR in 2022, with a combined figure totaling 8,329 persons (Australia (8,314),Nauru (6), Papua New Guinea (9)). Between 2021 and 2022, the stateless population in the Pacific increased by 491 persons, a much smaller increase than the reported populations between 2020 and 2021, which increased by 2,468 persons. The increase between 2020 and 2021 resulted entirely from within Australia. Nauru saw a significant decrease in its reported stateless population, decreasing from 130 in 2021 to only 6 in 2022. Notably, no States in the Pacific reported a stateless population to UNHCR in 2019.The lack of a comprehensive statelessness identification procedure in Australia and Papua New Guinea contribute to a lack of data on the stateless population in these countries. While New Zealand reported 2,364 refugees and asylum seekers to UNHCR in 2022, it is possible that some of this population may also be stateless, as seen in the case of AL (Myanmar). However, due to the lack of mapping or statistics in New Zealand on statelessness, this remains uncertain.
| Country | 2019 (year start) | 2020 (year end) | 2021 (year end) | 2022 (year end) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | – | 5,221 | 7,700 | 8,314 |
| Federated States of Micronesia | – | – | – | – |
| Fiji | – | – | – | – |
| Kiribati | – | – | – | – |
| Marshall Islands | – | – | – | – |
| Nauru | – | – | 130 | 6 |
| New Zealand | – | – | – | – |
| Palau | – | – | – | – |
| Papua New Guinea | – | – | 8 | – |
| Samoa | – | – | – | – |
| Solomon Islands | – | – | – | – |
| Tonga | – | – | – | – |
| Tuvalu | – | – | – | – |
| Vanuatu | – | – | – | – |
| TOTALS | – | 5,221 | 7,838 | 8,320 |
Source: UNHCR, Global Trends: Forced Displacement from 2019-2022
2. Pledges to End Statelessness
At the 2023 Global Refugee Forum, Australia made a pledge “to become members of the Global Alliance to End Statelessness (once established) to actively and collaboratively support the vision of a world free from statelessness so that everyone enjoys the right to nationality without discrimination”.
Two States, Australia and Papua New Guinea, made pledges relating to statelessness at the Ministerial Intergovernmental Event on Refugees and Stateless Persons in 2011. Australia pledged to “better identify stateless persons and assess their claims” and “to minimis[e] the incidence of statelessness and to ensure that stateless persons are treated no less favorably than people with an identified nationality”. Regarding the fulfillment of these pledges, Australia has yet to implement a statelessness determination procedure. Recently, at the 2023 Global Refugee Forum, Australia made a further pledge “to become members of the Global Alliance to End Statelessness (once established) to actively and collaboratively support the vision of a world free from statelessness so that everyone enjoys the right to nationality without discrimination”.
Papua New Guinea in 2011 pledged to amend its legislation to be able to remove the reservations made to the Refugee Convention and facilitate access to naturalization of “West Papuan and other refugees by either waiving all fees or introducing a nominal fee only for applications for citizenship by refugees”. While Papua New Guinea has made progressive strides by removing all reservations on the Refugee Convention regarding refugees sent from Australia, legislative improvement is required for persons in other contexts. Papua New Guinea has also been successful in reducing the fees required for citizenship applications and removed the fee entirely for West Papuan refugees.
3. Persons at Risk of Statelessness
Many Pacific Island States are at risk of “disappearing” or becoming uninhabitable due to climate-induced sea level rises. Extensive research has been undertaken into the impacts of climate change on statehood, citizenship and the risk of statelessness. While communities have internally (and in some instances, externally) relocated due to these impacts the fundamental questions regarding loss of nationality and statehood remain largely hypothetical. In Australia, Indigenous and Aboriginal communities are also at risk of statelessness due to marginalization, lack of access to social services, and a lower birth registration rate.
4. Undetermined Nationalities
Kiribati and Vanuatu are the only States in the Pacific to have publicly available census data that captures persons of “undetermined” or “unknown” nationality, with the 2020 Censuses of each country reporting eight and 27 persons respectively.
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.
5. Stateless Refugee
All the reported stateless population in the Pacific are stateless refugees, asylum seekers or, in the case of Australia, persons in immigration detention. The populations of both Nauru and Papua New Guinea have consisted entirely of Rohingya refugees. While many Pacific Island States are not large refugee-receiving countries and have been frequently found reporting no or single figure refugee populations, New Zealand reported 2,364 refugees and asylum seekers to UNHCR in 2021. It is possible that some of this refugee population is stateless, however no mapping or statistics are available to confirm this.
Since 2013, Australia has begun utilizing ‘regional processing centers’ in Nauru and Papua New Guinea, to which Australia has forcibly transferred more than 4,000 refugees and asylum seekers that arrived in Australia by boat, a process which has been condemned by UN bodies, NGOs, and refugee advocates. The last refugee on Nauru as a part of this policy was evacuated in June of 2023. At least 14 people died as a result of this offshore processing system, half of which were from suicide.
