REGIONAL OVERVIEW REGIONAL OVERVIEW TABLE 4 Birth registration rates across the Asia Pacifc Country Year Reported Birth Registratioin Rate (%) Afghanistan 2015 42%272 Australia 2020 100%273** Bangladesh 2022 58%274 Bhutan 2022 88%275 Brunei Darussalam 2020 100%276 Cambodia 2022 92%277 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea * * Federated States of Micronesia 2015 70%278 Fiji 2021 86%279 Hong Kong SAR 2022 90-99%280 India 2021 89%281 Indonesia 2022 81%282 Japan 2022 100%283 Kazakhstan 2020 90-99%284 Kiribati 2019 92%285 Kyrgyzstan 2018 98.9%286 Lao People’s Democratic Republic 2017 73%287 Malaysia 2018 90-99%288 Maldives 2017 99%289 Marshall Islands 2017 84%290 Mongolia 2021 100%291 Myanmar 2016 81%292 Nauru 2013 96%293 Nepal 2019 77%294 New Zealand 2021 100%295 Pakistan 2018 42%296 Palau 2014 100%297 Papua New Guinea 2018 13%298 People’s Republic of China * * Philippines 2017 92%299 Republic of Korea 2022 100%300 Samoa 2020 67%301 Singapore 2021 100%302 Solomon Islands 2007 80%303 Sri Lanka 2009 ≥90%304 Tajikistan 2017 95.8%305 Thailand 2019 100%306 Timor-Leste 2016 60%307 Tonga 2019 98%308 Turkmenistan 2019 99.9%309 Tuvalu 2020 87%310 Uzbekistan 2022 100%311 Vanuatu 2013 43%312 Viet Nam 2021 98%313 A citizenship certificate certifies citizenship in 5 States, including Nepal315, Papua New Guinea316, Samoa317, Solomon Islands318, and Sri Lanka319. In Afghanistan, the Tazkera, the principal Afghan identity document, proves Afghan citizenship.320 Similarly, a National ID is the main citizenship certifying document in Kazakhstan; however, to obtain a National ID, one must at least submit their birth certificate and ID of one of their parents.321 In 9 States of the region (Brunei, Laos, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, North Korea, Palau, South Korea, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu), there is insufficient data to determine the link between birth registration and citizenship and no explicit mention of citizenship certifying documents in the States’ citizenship legislation. However, in Vanuatu, 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.322 Statelessness and climate change As a region, the Pacific faces some of the greatest risks and has seen the greatest attention regarding the threat of climate-induced statelessness. Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu as lowlying States are expected to be impacted to the greatest extent from climate-induced sea-level rise.323 The risk of statelessness from ‘disappearing States’ currently remains a hypothetical question, with most experts agreeing that this scenario will not inevitably lead to statelessness.324 Before any States ‘disappear’, the impacts of relocation and an increase in displacement on communities and individual’s nationality status will need to be faced.325 It is this displacement across borders rather than the ‘disappearance’ of islands that poses the greatest risk of statelessness in the future. Less attention has been paid to the potential impacts of climate change on other regions in the Asia-Pacific.326 Republic of China * No reported rates available. **Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ birth registration rate was reported at only 77.2% in the same year.314 36 STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC (DETAILED VERSION) REPORT 2024 37 Rohingya Human Rights Initiative