REGIONAL OVERVIEW REGIONAL OVERVIEW Regional Overview Sub-regions Covered: East Asia, Central Asia, Pacific, South Asia, Southeast Asia Laws Citizenship Law Jus sanguinis and/or jus soli provisions All citizenship laws in the Asia-Pacific region operate through the principle of jus sanguinis, meaning that citizenship is derived via descent. The laws of 14 of the 45 countries in the region additionally contain jus soli, or ‘birthright citizenship’ provisions which grant citizenship on the basis of birth on their territory (with differing limitations). Across Asia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Malaysia, North Korea, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, and Viet Nam’s citizenship laws include at least one jus soli provision.41 In the Pacific, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu have limited provisions for jus soli citizenship.42 Of the 45 States in the region, jus sanguinis provisions in 22 States (Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, the Maldives, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Taiwan43, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, and Vanuatu) provide that children born to a citizen parent gain citizenship, with no distinction based upon the location of their birth.44 In 21 States (Afghanistan, Australia, Brunei, China, Hong Kong, India, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, North Korea, Samoa, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan and Vietnam) children can gain nationality where a parent is a citizen of the relevant country, however, a distinction is made between children born within or outside of the territory.45 For these countries, while jus sanguinis is the predominant means of transferal of nationality, jus soli factors come into play. The laws of two States (Bhutan and Myanmar) provide that citizenship may be transferred to children born within or outside 20 STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC (DETAILED VERSION) REPORT 2024 21