SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: SOUTHEAST ASIA parents born in Indonesia are considered citizens of Indonesia under the Law on Citizenship.2705 Although the Law on Citizenship now recognizes both foundling children and those born to stateless parents as citizens of Indonesia2706, the absence of specific guidelines and procedures to ensure the effective implementation of these provisions has resulted in difficulties concerning verification, documentation and access to basic rights.2707 Without a process to verify their citizenship, there is a risk of cases where people may be denied citizenship. Additionally, without documentation confirming their citizenship, they may encounter difficulties in accessing fundamental rights such, as education, healthcare and legal protection.2708 Efforts made by the government and relevant stakeholders to address these challenges have been relatively limited. There is a need for an approach that includes establishing transparent procedures to verify citizenship, providing necessary documentation and ensuring the protection of rights for these individuals. SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: SOUTHEAST ASIA family members of fighters) of their citizenship, concerns have been raised over the risk of future statelessness faced by this population group.2710 Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos) Administrative barriers Citizenship Stripping The main cause of statelessness in Indonesia has been attributed by UNHCR to be administrative barriers to birth registration2711, affecting as many as 50 million people.2712 Concern has been raised by a number of academics,2713 and both the CRC and the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families regarding the large number of children born in Indonesia to migrant worker parents who have not been able to access birth registration and risk statelessness.2714 Additionally, while ethnically discriminatory nationality laws were revoked in 2006,2715 some persons of Chinese and Indian descent still face administrative barriers to accessing citizenship due to a lack of identity documents or where persons have identity documents which include an incorrect recording of their citizenship status.2716 In February 2020, the government of Indonesia disallowed over 1,000 Indonesian citizens who had left Indonesia and joined the Islamic State from returning to the country.2709 While not officially stripping these individuals (who include The CEDAW recently commended Indonesia for increasing the number of children with birth certificates from 32.25% to 90.56% between 2014 and 2019.2717 Despite this, Indonesia has reported an 81% birth registration rate as of 2022.2718 Laws Citizenship Law Jus sanguinis provisions Citizenship legislation of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos) operates through jus sanguinis provisions, as stipulated by the Law on Lao Nationality (2004).2719 Lao citizenship provides that children born to two citizen parents are considered citizens regardless of their birthplace.2720 When a child has a single Lao parent and is born in Laos they will gain automatic citizenship by descent2721; however, if born outside of the country, at least one parent must be a permanent resident in order for the child to gain Lao citizenship.2722 Citizenship legislation of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos) operates through jus sanguinis provisions, as stipulated by the Law on Lao Nationality (2004). While Laos’s citizenship legislation does not include a definition of statelessness specifically, it uses the term ‘apatrid’, translated from Lao, which constitutes an individual residing in Laos who is not a Lao citizen and who is unable to certify their nationality, which can be interpreted as stateless persons or persons with undetermined nationality.2723 This does not align with the definition provided by the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, which determines the status of a potential stateless person by referring to national legislation on the citizenship of the country the person has or had ties with.2724 Naturalized citizenship Foreigners and ‘apatrids’ can gain Lao citizenship by request.2725 To be eligible, the applicant must be continuously resident in Lao for at least ten years, relinquish prior nationality, be able to speak, read, and write fluently in Lao, and be financially independent, among other requirements.2726 While stateless persons and refugees may be eligible for this process, there is no simplified or expedited process of naturalization available to them. 240 STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC (DETAILED VERSION) REPORT 2024 241