SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: EAST ASIA SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: EAST ASIA TABLE 19 Reported stateless population in East Asia Country 2019 (year start)813 2020 (year end)814 2021 (year end)815 2022 (year end)816 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – – – – Hong Kong SAR – – – – Japan 709 707 707 508 Mongolia 17 – 17 17 People’s Republic of China – – – – Republic of China (Taiwan) – – – – Republic of Korea 197 203 202 241 TOTALS 923 910 926 766 Source: UNHCR, Global Trends: Forced Displacement from 2019-2022 Population stateless persons in 2020.823 Three of the seven countries in the region reported small populations — Japan (508), Mongolia (17) and South Korea (241) — while China and Hong Kong reported zero persons and North Korea and Taiwan were not included in the report.824 While Hong Kong, like China, has not reported a stateless population to UNHCR for the past five years, the region did report one stateless person in 2015.825 Despite the low figures reported by South Korea to UNHCR, a recent mapping report found that as many 10,032 stateless persons could be residing within South Korea.826 UNHCR has specifically noted China as a country in which they have information regarding stateless people but no reliable data.827 There is also a lack of reliable data in Mongolia and South Korea.828 While no UNHCR estimates exist for Taiwan, sources state that there could be as many as 10,000 stateless children in the country.829 Reported stateless persons Persons at risk of statelessness Countries in East Asia collectively reported a stateless population of 766 people to UNHCR in 2022, a decrease of 160 people from reported numbers in 2021.821 Before 2021, the reported population stayed generally the same since 2019.822 Mongolia has consistently reported 17 stateless persons to the UNHCR since 2019, excluding that the country did not report any With official birth registration statistics for Taiwan unknown, all States in East Asia have high reported rates of birth registration between Three States, China, Japan and South Korea are all contracting States to the Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol.817 All countries in East Asia are party to ICESCR, CEDAW and CRC.818 Despite ratification of CEDAW, South Korea retains a reservation against Article 9 which provides for the equal right to acquire, change or retain nationality for women and the equal right to pass nationality onto their children.819 The ICCPR is ratified by all states except China while North Korea is the only country which has not ratified ICERD. In 1997, North Korea attempted to withdraw from the ICCPR; however, this act was rejected by the Secretary-General due to the Covenant’s lack of withdrawal provision.820 76 Countries in East Asia collectively reported a stateless population of 766 people to UNHCR in 2022, a decrease of 160 people from reported numbers in 2021. STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC (DETAILED VERSION) 90-100%.830 However, the impact of household registration systems prevalent in East Asia and administrative policies complicates the picture, especially for children of irregular migrants. China, South Korea and to a lesser extent Japan have notable issues of children of irregular migrants and trafficked persons being unable or unwilling to access birth registration. For example, there may be as many as 30,000 children born in China to North Korean mothers who had been trafficked into China,831 and 20,000 children of irregular migrants in South Korea who remain unregistered and at risk of statelessness.832 Further, due to systemic discrimination, particularly the denial of the right to a passport833 and freedom of movement, Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, and other ethnic Muslim minorities in China are also at risk of statelessness.834 As Taiwan hosts a large population of undocumented migrant workers, children born to migrant workers in Taiwan may be stateless as a result of lack of documentation.835 In Japan, Zainichi Koreans836 and children of Indochinese refugees from Thailand837 are also at risk of statelessness. Stateless Refugees As a subregion, East Asia has a small refugee population compared to the other subregions of the Asia-Pacific. Japan reported 9 stateless refugees to the UNHCR in 2022.838 A newspaper article in 2016 highlighted that there are growing numbers of stateless children born to refugees in Hong Kong.839 Many such refugees lack identification documents, which further contributes to intergenerational statelessness.840 Undetermined nationalities While reported figures of stateless populations may be low in East Asia, thousands of individuals remain with 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.841 In Japan’s 2020 census the nationalities of 131,684 foreigners in Japan were categorized as “stateless and name of country not reported”.842 Japan is the only country in East Asia with Englishlanguage and publicly accessible census statistics that include a stateless/undetermined citizenship status of foreigners.843 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)”844 and hold the status of “special permanent residents”.845 In Mongolia, thousands of ethnic Kazakhs have faced administrative barriers to reacquiring citizenship, which they lost in the early 1990s.846 Causes of Statelessness Lack of legal safeguards against childhood statelessness Protections exist in the nationality laws of all seven countries in East Asia which provide an automatic grant of citizenship to children born to stateless parents.847 In Mongolia, they can access Mongolian citizenship after reaching 16 years of age.848 Foundlings have the right to citizenship at birth in Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan.849 No protection is provided for foundlings under the citizenship law of China or Hong Kong. Prior to the dissolution of China’s one child policy the country had over 500,000 registered orphans,850 in 2021, this figure had reduced to 190,000.851 Further, there is a lack of safeguards in Mongolia for children born outside of the territory from becoming stateless Protections exist in the nationality laws of all seven countries in East Asia which provide an automatic grant of citizenship to children born to stateless parents. REPORT 2024 77