1. Lack of Legal Safeguards Against Childhood Statelessness
Under the laws of Vanuatu, there is no explicit protection of foundling or stateless children born on or found in the territory. For children born to two stateless parents in Vanuatu, there are currently no provisions protecting the child from becoming stateless. This combined with Vanuatu’s low rates of birth registration (43%) could leave children vulnerable to statelessness.
2. Administrative Barriers
While the importance of birth registration is unknown for gaining citizenship in Vanuatu, birth registration is low in the country, reported at only 43% in 2013. An updated birth registration rate has yet to be reported. Lack of birth registration or a birth certificate can mean that a person does not have the documentation they need to determine their citizenship eligibility.
