SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: THE PACIFIC otherwise be stateless.1538 Kiribati’s citizenship legislation does not fulfil this obligation due to discrimination based on gender for conferral of citizenship for children born in wedlock.1539 This also breached Kiribati’s CEDAW obligation to ensure gender equality in conferring citizenship to children.1540 In the 2020 concluding observations concerns and recommendations were expressed by the CEDAW Committee for Kiribati to amend its laws to ensure gender equality in conferral of citizenship.1541 Kiribati was issued a letter from the Rapporteur in March 2022 stating that the country has yet to provide follow-up to these concluding observations.1542 There has been no follow-up from Kiribati on this to date. SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: THE PACIFIC foreign citizen (re-acquisition not guaranteed), those applying for naturalization who have renounced prior citizenship, foundlings, and children born in the territory to stateless and/or foreign parents. are not entitled to any other citizenship, should in theory provide protection to both foundling and stateless children.1550 However, the lack of explicit protection may limit the applicability of these laws. Undetermined nationalities Citizenship stripping In Kiribati’s population and housing census 2020 of the reported non-citizen population, eight persons were reported to have “status unknown”.1546 A person of non-I-Kiribati descent can be stripped of Kiribati citizenship if they breach allegiance to Kiribati, obtain nationality of another country by voluntary act, or, if the Minister deems it necessary for “public good”.1551 There are no protections against statelessness for those who have lost their Kiribati citizenship in these situations.1552 Citizenship Stripping Kiribati is also in further violation of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness as “public good” is not an acceptable reason to deprive a person of citizenship.1553 The Citizenship Act stated that “an order made by the Minister [on deprivation of citizenship] shall not be questioned or enquired into by any court of law or be otherwise justiciable."1554 Causes of Statelessness Discriminatory nationality laws Kiribati breached its obligations of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, particularly Article 3, which regards non-discrimination in the implementation of the treaty’s provisions, due to provisions which allow men to include spouses and children in applications for naturalization without allowing the same for women.1543 Article 8 of the Citizenship Act needs to be amended in order to comply with the 1961 Convention as the provision which does not allow citizenship deprivation for “public good” to be included as a reasonable means for depriving someone of citizenship in the Convention.1544 Reported stateless persons As noted above, Kiribati is one of the five States in the Asia-Pacific with gender discriminatory provisions in their nationality laws that limit the ability for women to confer nationality to their children. Only the father is able to confer citizenship if a child is born in wedlock1547 and children born outside of the territory to mothers with Kiribati citizenship cannot access citizenship automatically. The citizenship laws of Kiribati also deny women the ability to pass on their nationality to foreign spouses, limiting the conferral of nationality through marriage to male citizens of Kiribati.1548 Unlike other Pacific island states (such as Tonga), Kiribati has a small overseas population, with approximately 5,000 I-Kiribati’s living in New Zealand and Australia.1549 There are no reliable statistics on the number of persons this provision has affected. `Kiribati has reported no stateless persons to UNHCR.1545 Lack of legal safeguards against childhood statelessness Persons at risk of statelessness The limited jus soli provisions providing for a grant of citizenship to children born on the territory who Population Due to gaps in legislation, persons at risk of statelessness in Kiribati include children born in wedlock to a foreign father and Kiribati citizen mother, women who lost their citizenship as a result of gaining citizenship from marrying a 134 The citizenship laws of Kiribati also deny women the ability to pass on their nationality to foreign spouses, limiting the conferral of nationality through marriage to male citizens of Kiribati. STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC (DETAILED VERSION) Kiribati is also in further violation of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness as “public good” is not an acceptable reason to deprive a person of citizenship. Administrative barriers Kiribati’s reported a high birth registration rate of 92% in 2019.1555 Although Kiribati has witnessed a significant increase in birth registration rates since 2008 due to investment in strengthening partnerships, challenges remain that contribute to the remaining 8% of unregistered births.1556 Kiribati's geographical dispersion, consisting of 33 islands spread over a vast distance, poses challenges for capturing all births within the country.1557 Limited and expensive transport systems, coupled with unreliable internet connectivity, hinder the electronic transfer of information to a central database.1558 There is a recognized need for a more centralized system to manage birth registration data, and reliance on paper-based forms for data capture, particularly from outer islands, results in a lack of completeness.1559 The CRC Committee also highlighted the need to remove penalty fees for late birth registration.1560 Approximately 20% of birth information is estimated to be unaccounted for due to forms not arriving on time.1561 Children of unwed mothers have a lower rate of registration due to stigmatization of unwed pregnancy and single mothers.1562 Kiribati’s reported a high birth registration rate of 92% in 2019. Statelessness and climate change There are a number of articles and reports written on the risk of statelessness faced by citizens of low-lying pacific states including Kiribati due to the impact of climate-induced sea-level rise.1563 With most of Kiribati’s land being only two meters above sea level, the potential impact sea-level rise could have could be devastating.1564 Analysis has been undertaken on the impacts of such relocation on the Banaban communities from Kiribati who were relocated to Rabi Island in Fiji in 1945.1565 With most of Kiribati’s land being only two meters above sea level, the potential impact sea-level rise could have could be devastating. This risk of statelessness from ‘disappearing states’ currently remains a hypothetical question, with a number of composite parts regarding the existence of statehood without territory, the continuation of citizenship without physical attachment and the potential lack of effective governments. Further, before any states ‘disappear’, the impacts of relocation and an increase in displaced populations on communities and individual’s nationality status will need to be faced.1566 REPORT 2024 135