REGIONAL OVERVIEW China, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) they have “information about stateless persons, but no reliable data”.130 It is notable that all but one of these countries is situated within South Asia. Within these countries, there are a number of identified stateless populations not included in the UNHCR reporting figures including ethnic Bengalis and long-term Afghan refugees in Pakistan131 and the Lhostshampa of Bhutan.132 In East Asia and the Pacific, there are no major groups of recognised in situ stateless populations.133 In Taiwan, children born to undocumented migrant workers may be at risk of statelessness.134 Across Central Asia, the Lyuli/Mugat (also referred to as Luli/Roma and Lyuli/Mughat; recognized in Tajikistan as Roma/Jughi; although the preferred term is Mugat/Mughat) ethnic group experiences low access to social services due to widespread discrimination.135 Historically, the Mugat community lived a nomadic lifestyle and never acquired documentation such as birth certificates.136 While the community is no longer nomadic, the Mugat are at a much higher risk of statelessness as a result of remaining lack of documentation and discrimination.137 Members of the Mugat community represent minorities in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan in particular, with limited information about the ethnic group in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. An estimated 69,851 members of the Mugat community reside in Uzbekistan.138 Stateless Refugees Of the reported stateless population in the AsiaPacific just over 1 million are stateless refugees.139 Almost the entire reported population of stateless refugees are members of the Rohingya community from Myanmar, with the vast majority hosted in South Asian States. This is reflected by the fact that the entire reported stateless population in South 28 REGIONAL OVERVIEW Asia of almost 1 million persons, are stateless refugees.140 Bangladesh is by far the largest host country for stateless refugees, with over 950,000 Rohingya refugees within their borders.141 The true scale of the Rohingya population within South Asia likely far exceeds reported figures. Estimates have placed the Rohingya population in India at 40,000 (twice the size of the reported 20,591 people)142 and as many as 400,000 Rohingya refugees have been estimated to reside in Pakistan (compared to the reported 47).143 Southeast Asia hosts the second largest reported Rohingya population, with four countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand) reporting populations to UNHCR in 2021. Malaysia hosts over 100,000 Rohingya refugees, the largest population within Southeast Asia and the second largest reported population of any State in the Asia-Pacific behind Bangladesh, while Indonesia (925), the Philippines (11) and Thailand (321) all reported comparatively small population groups.144 All the reported stateless population in the Pacific (8,320) are stateless refugees, asylum seekers or, in the case of Australia, persons in immigration detention (8,314).145 Nauru also reported 6 stateless Rohingya refugees in 2022.146 As a region, East Asia has a small refugee population compared to the other sub-regions, with Japan being the only country in the subregion to report a stateless refugee population consisting of 9 persons.147 There are growing numbers of stateless children born to refugees in Hong Kong.148 Other groups of refugees affected by statelessness include as many as 73,404 Tibetan refugees and more than 92,000 Sri Lankan refugees in India,149 approximately 1.4 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan,150 and 6,365 Bhutanese Lhostshampa refugees in Nepal, many of whom are stateless.151 STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC (DETAILED VERSION) TABLE 2 Country-wise distribution of the reported stateless population Country 2019 (year start)152 2020 (year end)153 2021 (year end)154 2022 (year end)155 Afghanistan – – – – Australia – 5,221 7,700 8,314 Bangladesh 854,704 866,457 918,841 952,309 Bhutan – – – – Brunei Darussalam 20,863 20,863 20,863 20,863 Cambodia 57,444 57,444 75,000 75,000 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – – – – Federated States of Micronesia – – – – Fiji – – – – Hong Kong SAR – – – – India 17,730 18,174 20,154 21,591 Indonesia 582 874 641 925 Japan 709 707 707 508 Kazakhstan 7,690 7,999 7,831 8,569 Kiribati – – – – Kyrgyzstan 548 18 600 203 Lao People’s Democratic Republic – – – – Malaysia 108,332 111,289 112,420 115,169 Maldives – – – – Marshall Islands – – – – Mongolia 17 – 17 17 Myanmar 600,000 600,000 600,000 630,000 Nauru - - 130 6 Nepal – – 465 452 New Zealand – – – – Pakistan – – 47 55 Palau – – – – Papua New Guinea – – 8 – People’s Republic of China – – – – Philippines 383 387 260 267 Republic of China – – – – Republic of Korea 197 203 202 241 Samoa – – – – Singapore 1,303 1,109 1,109 1,109 Solomon Islands – – – – Sri Lanka – – 35 36 Tajikistan 4,616 6,385 6,110 5,391 Thailand 475,009 480,695 561,527 574,219 Timor-Leste – – – – Tonga – – – – Turkmenistan 4,714 3,924 4,280 4,527 Tuvalu – – – – Uzbekistan 79,942 69,791 37,993 27,389 Vanuatu – – – – Viet Nam 30,581 32,890 35,475 26,811 TOTALS 2,265,364 2,284,430 2,412,415 2,473,971 REPORT 2024 29