3.3 Tailor-made surveys A more direct approach to gathering data on statelessness is a survey which specifically seeks to uncover individuals who are stateless or at risk of statelessness. Through tailor-made questionnaires, it is possible to build a profile of the population and gather detailed statistical or even qualitative data. A survey can be supplemented by participatory assessment, such as focus group discussions.64 This will help to build a better understanding of the impact of statelessness in terms of access to rights, uncover factors that may obstruct a solution and determine the interests and capacity of different stakeholders. Survey of enjoyment of nationality and basic services among Thailand’s hill tribes With comprehensive technical support from UNESCO, the Thai Ministry of Social Development and Human Security conducted a large-scale survey to study the link between nationality and access to services in Thailand. The survey focused on hill tribe communities, collecting information on almost 65,000 individuals in 192 border villages. Of this number, 38% were found not to hold Thai nationality. This sample survey alone identified around 25,000 persons who are either stateless or at significantly heightened risk of statelessness.65 The findings can be extrapolated to get an impression of the magnitude of the problem as it affects Thailand’s hill tribe community as a whole. The survey uncovered some of the effects felt by individuals who do not hold Thai nationality. Persons without Thai nationality are 99% less likely to use public healthcare and 25% less likely to be able to access loans than those who hold citizenship. Children without Thai nationality are 73% less likely than Thai citizen children to enter primary school. They are 98% less likely to progress to higher education. The survey thereby identified the main areas in which action could be taken to improve the protection situation of these individuals, pending a resolution of their case.66 Information gathered through a survey can feed directly into strategies for the prevention and reduction of statelessness and the protection of stateless persons. For example, in Viet Nam, a survey facilitated the development of the state’s policy on naturalisation of stateless former-Cambodian refugees by providing current and accurate data on the group concerned.67 Funding has now been secured from the European Union for a new project in which Viet Nam’s Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs will work with UNHCR to survey cases of statelessness that have resulted from marriages with foreigners and implement an appropriate response.68 Studying the objectives, approach and outcome of such surveys can be helpful in determining how to address remaining gaps in information relating to stateless persons in the region. cooperation with other United Nations agencies, in particular UNICEF and UNFPA as well as DPA, OHCHR and UNDP within the framework of national programmes, which may include, as appropriate, processes linked to birth registration and updating of population data”. UNHCR Executive Committee, Conclusion on Identification, Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness and Protection of Stateless Persons, No. 106, 6 October 2006. See also UNHCR and UN Population Fund strengthen ties, UNHCR News Story, 30 April 2008. 64 See, for instance, UNHCR, Social Assessment of the Formerly Deported Population in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea: A participatory rapid assessment, European Series, Volume 4, Number 1, April 1998. 65 Since the survey did not seek to ascertain whether these individuals held the nationality of a state other than Thailand, the proportion of the population without Thai nationality cannot be directly equated to the number presently affected by statelessness. However, it is widely understood that the majority of Thailand’s hill tribe population does not enjoy an effective link to another state and has resided on Thai soil for numerous generations, making it unlikely that they hold another nationality. 66 Education needed in struggle to empower hill tribe communities, Bangkok Post [Thailand], 12 August 2008; Minority Rights Group International, State of the world’s minorities and indigenous peoples 2009 – Thailand, 16 July 2009; US Department of State, 2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – Thailand, 11 March 2010. Note that data collection for a second survey, which incorporated a greater number of households and used an expanded questionnaire, has now been finalised. When the analysis of this information is complete, it is expected to provide a far more detailed picture of the situation and protection concerns of this hill tribe population. 67 ÚS Department of State, 2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – Vietnam, 11 March 2010; 68 Correspondence with UNHCR Viet Nam, September 2010. 10