44. Stateless persons can apply to become permanent residents and stateless permanent residents
can also apply to become Brunei Darussalam citizens.50 However, the onerous application
requirements continue to be a barrier to stateless persons in obtaining either status.51
45. For example, proficiency in the Malay language is one of the criterion for citizenship.52 Applicants
are required to be proficient in both the standard of Malay that is taught in public schools and the
dialect of Malay that is spoken colloquially in Brunei Darussalam.53 Since stateless people in Brunei
Darussalam usually face barriers in accessing public education, they are not likely to have learned
the dialect of the Malay language that is required for citizenship.
46. There are also reports of stateless permanent residents who have passed the citizenship exam
and meet all of the criteria for citizenship but are still waiting to acquire citizenship five to ten
years after the fact.54
47. As at 2014, Brunei Darussalam reported to UNHCR that 2,420 stateless persons acquired Brunei
Darussalam citizenship via naturalisation between the beginning of 2009 and the end of 2012.55
More recent data is not publicly available. Although such steps are positive, as the above analysis
and testimony demonstrates, efforts must be significantly increased to guarantee the right to
nationality for stateless persons in the country and ensure the nationality law and related policies
and practices uphold non-discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, ethnicity, disability and other
protected characteristics.
Birth Registration as a Tool for Preventing Statelessness
48. Birth registration is an important tool for the prevention of statelessness because it establishes a
legal record of where a child was born and to whom.56 That is, birth registration (and birth
certificates) often provide essential proof as to whether a person has acquired nationality by birth
or descent, or of their eligibility to acquire nationality by birth or descent.57
50
U.S. Department of State, 2012 Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Brunei Darussalam (19 April 2013), 9
<https://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2012/eap/204188.htm>.
51 Alana Tolman, Brunei’s stateless left in a state of confusion (8 April 2016) New Mandala
<http://www.newmandala.org/bruneis-stateless-left-in-a-state-of-confusion/>; Zhao Shengnan, ‘Stateless residents fight
for sense of belonging in Brunei’, China Daily USA (online), 19 December 2013 <http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/201312/19/content_17184934.htm; Minority Rights Group International, Brunei Darussalam: Chinese
<https://minorityrights.org/minorities/chinese>.
52 Alana Tolman, Brunei’s stateless left in a state of confusion (8 April 2016) New Mandala
<http://www.newmandala.org/bruneis-stateless-left-in-a-state-of-confusion/>; Brunei Nationality Act 1961 (Cap. 15)
(Brunei Darussalam) art 8 <http://www.agc.gov.bn/AGC%20Images/LAWS/ACT_PDF/cap015.pdf>.
53 Alana Tolman, Brunei’s stateless left in a state of confusion (8 April 2016) New Mandala
<http://www.newmandala.org/bruneis-stateless-left-in-a-state-of-confusion/>; Minority Rights Group International, Brunei
Darussalam: Chinese <https://minorityrights.org/minorities/chinese>.
54 Alana Tolman, Brunei’s stateless left in a state of confusion (8 April 2016) New Mandala
<http://www.newmandala.org/bruneis-stateless-left-in-a-state-of-confusion/>; Interviews conducted by The Brunei
Project in September 2018 with stateless persons residing in Brunei.
55 UNHCR, ‘Universal Periodic Review : Brunei Darussalam’, Submission for the OHCHR’s Compilation Report – Universal
Periodic Review : Brunei Darussalam, September 2013, 2 [2] <http://www.refworld.org/cgibin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page=country&docid=528346844&skip=0&coi=BRN&querysi=stateless&searchin=fulltext&sort=date
>.
56 UNHCR, Birth Registration – Child Protection Brief (August 2013) Refworld <
http://www.refworld.org/docid/523fe9214.html>; Guidelines on Statelessness No 4: Ensuring Every Child’s Right to Acquire
a Nationality through Articles 1–4 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, UN Doc HCR/GS/12/04 (21
December 2012) 12 [55].
57 UNHCR, Birth Registration – Child Protection Brief (August 2013) Refworld <
9