The 2009 Nationality Law introduced a number of improvements that are significant for the prevention of statelessness for all Vietnamese abroad, including Vietnamese women who marry foreigners. With the passage of the law, no longer will there be an automatic loss of Vietnamese nationality should a Vietnamese citizen acquire a second, foreign nationality. This eliminates the danger of rendering an individual stateless, should that individual lose an acquired second nationality, but only if the individual has not had to renounce his or her Vietnamese nationality to acquire a new nationality. Furthermore, Article 13 of the 2009 Nationality Law provides that Vietnamese citizens abroad who had not yet lost their Vietnamese nationality pursuant to the prior nationality law can retain their Vietnamese nationality so long as they register with the overseas Vietnamese consular authorities by July 2014, with the deadline subsequently removed by legislative amendment in June 2014.47 According to both the 1998 and 2009 Nationality Laws, the act of marriage, divorce or annulment of unlawful marriage between a Vietnamese citizen and a foreigner does not alter the Vietnamese nationality of either the concerned individual or any minor children. As had been documented, however, several thousand Vietnamese women had been rendered stateless upon marriage to foreigners because they elected to renounce their Vietnamese nationality in the hopes of acquiring the foreign nationality of their spouses. Unfortunately, the 2009 nationality law maintains the possibility of loss of Vietnamese nationality through renunciation in its Article 27 without incorporating a safeguard to ensure that this would only be effective where the concerned individual has definitively acquired another nationality. Nevertheless, to address the situation of Vietnamese women who become stateless through marriage to a foreigner, Article 7(2) of the 2009 law makes clear that the “State adopts policies to create favourable conditions for persons who have lost their Vietnamese nationality to restore Vietnamese nationality.” Article 23(1) (f) of the law facilitates the restoration of Vietnamese nationality, particularly for those “having renounced Vietnamese nationality for acquisition of a foreign nationality but failing to obtain permission to acquire the foreign nationality.” A procedure for applying to restore one’s Vietnamese nationality is set forth in Article 24. Specific provisions to facilitate the naturalization of the stateless Cambodian refugees are contained in Article 22 of the 2009 law. It provides that “stateless persons who do not have adequate personal identification papers but have been stably residing in the Vietnamese territory for 20 years or more by the effective date of this Law [1 July 2009] and obey Vietnam’s Constitution and laws will be permitted for naturalization in Vietnam under the order, procedures and dossiers specified by the Government.” Promoting the 2009 Nationality Law provisions to restore nationality and reduce statelessness After the 2009 Nationality Law entered into force, UNHCR partnered with MOLISA to devise projects to implement the new nationality restoration provisions to reduce statelessness among Vietnamese women who had lost their nationality upon marriage to foreigners and had returned to Viet Nam without having acquired another nationality. With funding from the European Union, MOLISA and UNHCR conducted surveys in various cities in Viet Nam to obtain a better understanding of how statelessness arises from mixed marriages between Vietnamese and foreigners. A series of awareness campaigns was organized with local authorities as well as the affected communities to publicize the new procedure in Article 23 for restoration of Vietnamese nationality. MOLISA’s actions were coordinated with organizations at the local level, such as the women’s, youth and labour unions. This project included some vocational training and counselling to bolster the reintegration of women and children who had returned to Viet Nam from abroad. 47 35 See Law on Vietnamese Nationality No 56/2014/QH13, 24 June 2014. Additional positive developments in the 2009 law include Article 18, a progressive provision according to which all “abandoned newborns and children found in the Vietnamese territory whose parents are unknown, have Vietnamese nationality.” Furthermore, the new law introduced limited circumstances in which foreigners could apply to acquire Vietnamese nationality as a second nationality, for example foreigners with a Vietnamese parent or child or someone who would contribute to the benefit of Vietnamese society, including Viet Nam’s development and defence. CAMPAIGN TO END STATELESSNESS WITHIN 10 YE ARS