Indonesia, a differentiation between “natives” and “non-natives” based on ethnicity was also abolished with the 2006 legal reform.99 Preventing statelessness requires not only introducing safeguards in the letter of the law but also ensuring appropriate interpretation and application of the law. Procedural safeguards can play an important role here. By ensuring that decisions relating to nationality are properly motivated and subject to review, there is less room for arbitrary decision-making and greater opportunity to fully assess the circumstances so as to ensure that statelessness is prevented.100 As yet, few ASEAN states provide in their law for an opportunity to ask for a review of nationality-related decisions. Myanmar is an exception, where decisions of the Central Body on citizenship can be appealed before the Council of Ministers.101 In both the Philippines and Singapore, the law also provides for the possibility of a review in some cases.102 This is an area in which further lessons could be taken from outside the region.103 4.2 Reducing the risk of statelessness by promoting birth registration Promoting access to birth registration is another straightforward yet highly effective measure that can help to prevent statelessness. Birth registration vouches for the child’s legal identity and provides official recognition of a child’s date and place of birth as well as parentage. These are vital facts in determining the position of the child under applicable nationality laws, thus birth registration can help to avoid nationality disputes and statelessness.104 In the ASEAN region, there have been some major developments in this field in recent years. Progress can be traced at two levels: policy and practice. In terms of creating a conducive legal or policy framework for birth registration, one recent example of reform is the new Civil Registration Act adopted in Thailand in 2008.105 Under the old law, there was some confusion as to whether children born in the state whose parents were not Thai nationals and had no right to reside in the country were eligible for birth registration.106 This is a highly pertinent question since Thailand has a large presence of irregular migrants. In the past, children born within these communities were commonly unable to access formal birth registration procedures.107 Through the new Civil Registration Act of 2008, the right of all children born in Thailand, regardless of their nationality Brunei Nationality Act, No. 4, 1961, as amended to 2002. Lao PDR meanwhile offers facilitated access to naturalisation for “individuals of Lao race”. Article 15 of the Law on Lao Nationality, No. 06/90/PSA, 1990, as amended. 99 See the Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Indonesia, Decree No. 12, 2006. See also US Department of State, US Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006 – Indonesia, 6 March 2007; Minority Rights Group International, World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples – Indonesia: Overview, June 2008. 100 The right to due process and to an effective is widely recognised under international human rights law, including in article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. See also article 8, paragraph 4 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 101 Article 70 of the Myanmar Citizenship Law, Pyithu Hluttaw Law No. 4, 1982. 102 Section 11 of the Act to provide for the acquisition of Philippine citizenship by naturalisation, Commonwealth Act No. 473, 1939, as amended; Article 133 and Section 2 of the Third Schedule of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, Act 8/65, 1965, as amended. Note that Brunei Darussalam and Malaysia also provide for a right of inquiry by a special committee in the context of a decision to deprive a person of his or her nationality. See article 11 (4) and (5) of the Brunei Nationality Act, No. 4, 1961, as amended to 2002; Article 27 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, 1957, as amended. 103 See, for instance, Chapter IV of the 1997 European Convention on Nationality which is dedicated to “procedures relating to nationality” and provides for processing within a reasonable time, motivation of decisions in writing, reasonableness of fees and an opportunity for administrative or judicial review. The International Law Commission’s Draft Articles on Nationality of Natural Persons in relation to the Succession of States and the Council of Europe Convention on the avoidance of statelessness in relation to State Succession also detail a number of procedural guarantees. 104 See, for instance, UNHCR Standing Committee, Birth registration: a topic proposed for an Executive Committee Conclusion on International Protection, EC/61/SC/CRP.5, 9 February 2010. 105 Thailand’s Civil Registration Act (No.2), B.E. 2551, 15 February 2008 – amending Civil Registration Act B.E. 2534. 106 The ambiguity stemmed, in particular, from instructions issued by the Bureau of Registration Administration establishing that persons with no (temporary) leave to reside in Thailand are not subject to the Civil Registration Law and cannot proceed with any civil registration other than notification of death. These instructions seemed to contradict the more inclusive terms of the old civil registration law itself, but the matter remained unclear and in practice access to birth registration was obstructed for such persons. See L. van Waas, “The children of irregular migrants: A stateless generation?” in Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, Vol. 25, No. 3, September 2007; UNESCO, Citizenship Manual – Capacity building on birth registration and citizenship in Thailand, 2008. 107 See, for instance, Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Thailand, CRC/C/THA/CO/2, 27 January 2006; L. van Waas, Is permanent illegality inevitable? The challenge to ensuring birth registration and the right to a nationality for the children of irregular migrants – Thailand and the Dominican Republic, Plan International, 2006. 15