Law

1. Citizenship Law

a. Jus Sanguinis Provisions

Citizenship legislation of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos) operates through jus sanguinis provisions, as stipulated by the Law on Lao Nationality (2004). Lao citizenship provides that children born to two citizen parents are considered citizens regardless of their birthplace. When a child has a single Lao parent and is born in Laos they will gain automatic citizenship by descent; however, if born outside of the country, at least one parent must be a permanent resident in order for the child to gain Lao citizenship.

While Laos’s citizenship legislation does not include a definition of statelessness specifically, it uses the term ‘apatride’, translated from Lao, which constitutes an individual residing in Laos who is not a Lao citizen and who is unable to certify their nationality, which can be interpreted as stateless persons or persons with undetermined nationality. This does not align with the definition provided by the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, which determines the status of a potential stateless person by referring to national legislation on the citizenship of the country the person has or had ties with.

b. Naturalized Citizenship

Foreigners and ‘apatrides’ can gain Lao citizenship by request. To be eligible, the applicant must be continuously resident in Laos for at least ten years, relinquish prior nationality, be able to speak, read, and write fluently in Lao, and be financially independent, among other requirements. While stateless persons and refugees may be eligible for this process, there is no simplified or expedited process of naturalization available to them.

c. Dual Citizenship

Dual citizenship is only recognized for those of Lao race who acquire citizenship by request. In order to do so, a person who has a prior nationality must be a permanent resident in Laos for 5 years. Lao citizens applying for citizenship elsewhere must first renounce their Lao citizenship. Similarly, a foreign citizen applying for Lao citizenship must agree to renounce their other citizenship. This could lead to temporary statelessness if the applicant’s citizenship application is denied after they have renounced their other citizenship. However, the foreign citizen could re-acquire their former citizenship if the law of the former country allows them to.

2. Treaty Ratification Status

While Laos has ratified the ICCPR, ICESCR, ICERD, CRC, and CEDAW with no relevant reservations, the country has yet to ratify the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, and the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol.

In 2018, the CRC Committee in its concluding observations expressed concerns regarding the fact that 75% of children under five years of age are unregistered and that only 33% of children have a birth certificate. The Committee identified that costs of registration are a barrier to universal birth registration and that children in rural areas have disproportionately lower access to birth registration. It was recommended that Laos raise awareness of the importance of birth registration.

To improve birth registration, Laos has been recommended to raise awareness of birth registration, establish a mobile registration system, and eliminate costs associated with birth registration. In 2018, the CEDAW Committee also cited concerns over the country’s low birth registration rate, especially in rural areas and among ethnic minority groups. By ratifying the CRC, Laos has committed to ensuring that all births are registered immediately and that all children have the right to acquire a nationality.

The Human Rights Committee, in its concluding observations, has raised concern regarding the enforced disappearances of members of the Hmong ethnic minority community, who were forcibly returned to Laos from Thailand in 2009.

Status of Accession of International Human Rights Treaties in Southeast Asia

Country	Stateless 1	Stateless 2	Refugee	ICCPR	ICESCR	ICERD	CRC	CEDAW
Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Signifies that the country is a party to the convention

Stateless 1 – 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons

Signifies that the country is not a party to the convention

Stateless 2 – 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness

Population

1. Reported Stateless Persons

Laos has not reported any statistics of stateless persons living within its territory to UNHCR.

2. Persons at Risk of Statelessness

There are over 500,000 persons of Hmong ethnicity living in Laos. The Hmong ethnic group face continual discrimination (including the denial of passports) and have low birth-registration rates, placing them at risk of statelessness. In 2009, around 4,000 Hmong people from Thailand were forcibly returned to Laos. While UNHCR has requested access to this population, the Laos government has yet to provide it, aside from a government-escorted visit to one returnee site. Information on the condition and treatment of this population remains limited.

3. Undetermined Nationalities

While no detailed breakdown is available of persons with undetermined nationality in Laos, the most recent Population Census held in 2015 recorded 375 foreigners in Laos whose citizenship was unknown.

Causes of Statelessness

1. Lack of Legal Safeguards Against Childhood Statelessness

Due to the lack of in-country partners and available research, the causes of statelessness within Laos are largely unknown. Lao citizenship laws provide that foundling children will be considered citizens. Laos’s citizenship legislation further provides that children born to stateless parents are considered Lao citizens if the parents are permanently residing in Laos and have ‘integrated to the Lao society and culture’. However, the US Department of State has noted that this process is not automatic, requiring multiple levels of administrative and government approval and does not protect all stateless children born in the territory of Laos. A child born to one Lao citizen parent and one ‘apatride’ parent will be a citizen no matter their birthplace. In the Law on Lao Nationality, an ‘apatride’ is defined as an individual residing in Laos who is not a Lao citizen and who is unable to certify their nationality, which can be interpreted as stateless persons or persons with undetermined nationality. A child born to two ‘apatride’ parents may gain citizenship if the parents are both permanent residents, integrated into Lao society, and the parents request the child to gain citizenship.

2. Citizenship Stripping

If a Lao citizen migrates to another country for 7 years without authorization, their Lao citizenship can be forfeited. This can also occur if the citizen’s authorization to reside overseas expires while not under the administration of the Lao embassy or consulate in their country of residence. Citizenship may also be forfeited if a citizen “has not maintained any legal connection with the Lao People’s Democratic Republic for more than ten years”.

3. Administrative Barriers

Low birth registration rates and barriers to birth registration, especially among the Hmong ethnic minority population, may place persons in Hmong at risk of statelessness. In 2014, Laos stated in a Report of the Working Group that a national action plan had been developed calling it the Strategic Plan for Civil Registration, to explore a digital birth registration system. This Plan began in 2017 and set a vision to reach universal birth registration for Lao people by 2030. Three goals are included in the Plan, which includes universal and effective civil registration, legal documentation of civil registration for all individuals, and compilation and dissemination of vital statistics based on registration records. Laos set a specific target to achieve a 70% birth registration rate by 2024, which they have been successful in achieving. However, the country has yet to reach a universal birth registration rate, which was reported as 73% in 2017.

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