it is unclear whether the following groups are represented in UNHCR’s estimate as to the number of stateless persons in Viet Nam (i.e. at least 29,522 stateless persons). Ethnic Minorities 15. Ethnic and religious minorities, such as H’Mong15 and Montagnard communities,16 face significant discrimination in Viet Nam.17 This can manifest in harassment, arbitrary arrest and detention of ethnic minorities by authorities.18 It may also result in authorities refusing these communities access to civil registration and documentation (including birth registration), and/or individuals from these communities avoiding contact with authorities to apply for civil registration and documentation due to their fear of authorities.19 Civil registration and documentation is often necessary to prove nationality and access other fundamental human rights, including the right to education, employment, health care and housing, land and property rights in Viet Nam.20 15 The majority of the H’Mong ethnic group are indigenous to the mountainous regions of southern China, Viet Nam, China, Laos and Myanmar and Thailand. See Unrepresented Nations & Peoples Organization, Profile: Hmong (17 July 2017) <http://unpo.org/members/7891>. 16 Montagnards also self-identify as Khmer Krom or the Degars. This population is indigenous to the Central Highlands of Viet Nam and the majority of whom are practicing Christians. See Athena Tacet, ‘Montagnards: Escaping Vietnam, stateless in Thailand’, Aljazeera (online) 24 March 2017 <https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/03/montagnardsescaping-vietnam-stateless-thailand-170320090502798.html>; Home Office of the United Kingdom, Country Policy and Information Note – Vietnam: Ethnic and Religious Groups (March 2018) <https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/695864/Vietnam__Ethnic_and_Religious_groups_-_CPIN_v2.0_ex.pdf>. 17 Thang Dinh Nguyen, ‘Vietnamese Government Continues to Harass H’Mong Protestants from May 2017 Through March 2018 in Son La Province’ (Report, Boat People SOS, 13 May 2018); Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, ‘DFAT Country Information Report: Vietnam’ (21 June 2017) http://dfat.gov.au/about-us/publications/Documents/countryinformation-report-vietnam.pdf; Athena Tacet, above n 18; Human Rights Watch, Cambodia: Protect Montagnards Refugees (12 September 2017) <http://www.refworld.org/country,,,,VNM,,59b7d43e4,0.html>; Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2017 (2017) Freedom House <https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2017/vietnam>. 18 Ibid. 19 Thang Dinh Nguyen, ‘Vietnamese Government Continues to Harass H’Mong Protestants from May 2017 Through March 2018 in Son La Province’ (Unpublished report, BPSOS, 13 May 2018); Thang Dinh Nguyen, ‘In Vietnam, H’Mong Protestants are deprived of residency registration and personal ID papers’ (Unpublished report, BPSOS, 13 May 2018).; United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, Annual Report 2013 (April 2013) United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, 205 <http://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/resources/2013%20USCIRF%20Annual%20Report%20(2).pdf>. Further research is required to understand the extent to which the discrimination faced by Montagnards in Viet Nam restricts their access to civil registration and documentation. Recent research by BPSOS in Gai Lai Province in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam indicates that Montagnards in this area face significant discrimination from authorities and are regularly denied access to identity documentation. Additionally, the Montagnard Assistance Project (MAP), which provides livelihood assistance to Montagnard asylum seekers and refugees in Thailand, reports that Montagnard Christians often do not have any identity documentation. This is corroborated by the Bangkok-based Center for Asylum Protection, a joint project of the People Serving People Foundation and BPSOS. 20 Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, Violations of the Rights of Ethnic and Religious Minorities in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (January 2012) UNHCR, 10-11 < https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/SitePages/Home.aspx>. 5