SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: SOUTH ASIA SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: SOUTH ASIA TABLE 61 India chapter, as many as 100,000 Sri Lankan refugees are potentially stateless.2403 Status of Accession of International Human Rights Treaties in South Asia Country Srilanka ✅ ⛔ Stateless 1 ⛔ Stateless 2 ⛔ Refugee ⛔ Signifies that the country is a party to the convention Signifies that the country is not a party to the convention ICCPR ✅ ICESCR ✅ ICERD ✅ CRC ✅ CEDAW ✅ Stateless 1 - 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons Stateless 2 - 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness implementing a mobile registration mechanism.2393 As a party to CRC, Sri Lanka is bound to ensure that all births are registered immediately and all children enjoy the right to acquire a nationality.2394 In recent concluding observations, the CESCR Committee expressed concerns over the discrimination, “poverty, poor working conditions, inadequate housing conditions, lack of access to health care, lack of quality education and high drop-out rates, child labour and a lack of citizenship or identity documents” experienced by the Tamil population in Sri Lanka.2388 The concern over difficulty faced by Tamils of Indian origin in accessing citizenship and identity documents was echoed in concluding observations by the CERD Committee, which added that this leads to issues with detention and owning a house or opening a bank account.2389 By ratifying ICERD, Sri Lanka is obligated to protect the right to nationality.2390 Further, ICESCR, which Sri Lanka is also obligated to, protects the right to education and freedom from discrimination.2391 In a recent UPR submission on Sri Lanka ISI proposed the recommendations of acceding to the Statelessness Conventions as well as “ensure the socio-economic growth and address the marginalisation faced by the formerly stateless Tamils of Indian origin in the country”.2395 Population Reported stateless persons In 2022, Sri Lanka reported 36 stateless persons to UNHCR, an increase of one person since reported numbers in 2021.2396 This figure comprises entirely of stateless refugees, with UNHCR noting that they have information regarding the in situ stateless population but lack any reliable data.2397 Concluding observations by the CRC Committee in 2018 raised concern over the large number of births which remain unregistered, especially among marginalized groups, despite reporting a high birth registration rate.2392 It was recommended that Sri Lanka raise awareness of the importance of birth registration and simplify its birth registration procedure to ensure children may register outside of established timelines by Causes of Statelessness Discriminatory nationality laws Other Populations of Note The granting of citizenship to the ‘Hill Country’ (or ‘Up-Country’) Tamil population in Sri Lanka 2003, who had been deprived of citizenship since 1948 has both been held up as a success story of ‘solving’ statelessness and analysed for the continuing discrimination faced by the population group despite their citizenship status being resolved.2404 This population consists of persons of Tamil ethnicity brought to Sri Lanka from India during colonial periods largely to work on tea plantations in the Sri Lankan Hill Country and are distinguished from ‘Sri Lankan’ Tamil populations who historically resided in the countries north and east.2405 In 2003, in a combined project between the Sri Lankan Government, UNHCR, and the Ceylon Workers’ Congress provided citizenship to an estimated 200,000 members of this community.2406 The granting of citizenship to the ‘Hill Country’ (or ‘Up-Country’) Tamil population in Sri Lanka 2003, who had been deprived of citizenship since 1948 has both been held up as a success story of ‘solving’ statelessness and analysed for the continuing discrimination faced by the population group despite their citizenship status being resolved. Historic statelessness among Hill Country Tamils was largely based on the discriminatory implementation of citizenship laws at the time of Sri Lankan independence in 1948 which indirectly excluded Hill Country Tamils from citizenship.2407 Lack of legal safeguards against childhood statelessness The citizenship laws of Sri Lanka provide that a foundling child of unknown and unascertained parentage will be considered a citizen of Sri Lanka until the contrary can be proven.2408 Sri Lankan citizenship laws do not address access to citizenship for children of stateless parents. Administrative barriers The birth registration rate in Sri Lanka was reported at over 90% in 2009.2409 Despite the country’s relatively high registration rate, the CRC has noted with concern the low rates of birth registration among marginalised groups in Sri Lanka and the potential impact on their access to nationality.2410 Stateless Refugees Sri Lanka reported 36 stateless refugees to UNHCR in 2022.2398 Additionally, as noted in the TABLE 62 Reported stateless persons to the UNHCR Country Sri Lanka 2019 (year start)2399 2020 (year end)2400 2021 (year end)2401 2022 (year end)2402 – – 35 36 Source: UNHCR, Global Trends: Forced Displacement from 2019-2022. 214 STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC (DETAILED VERSION) REPORT 2024 215