Boat People SOS, Statelessness Network Asia Pacific and Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council at the 32st Session of the Universal Periodic Review Viet Nam Introduction 1. Boat People SOS,1 the Statelessness Network Asia Pacific (SNAP)2 and the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (the Institute)3 make this joint submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on the challenges pertaining to citizenship, statelessness and the enjoyment of fundamental human rights in Viet Nam. 2. This submission focuses on: 2.1. gaps in Viet Nam’s response to addressing statelessness, 2.2. the vulnerabilities of specific populations to statelessness in Viet Nam, and 2.3. the mechanisms that restrict certain populations access to fundamental human rights in Viet Nam. 3. This submission draws on extensive national and international experience of the cosubmitting organisations in research, direct assistance, advocacy and awareness raising on the issues raised. 1 Boat People SOS (BPSOS) is a non-profit organization devoted to Vietnamese-American civic and political activism. Its operations started in the 1980s, when it operated voluntary missions to rescue over 35,000 Vietnamese boat people from the high seas and defending their refugee rights in first asylum countries. (https://www.bpsos.org/) 2 SNAP (https://www.statelessnessnetworkasiapacific.org/) is a civil society network with the goal of promoting collaboration and information sharing on addressing statelessness in Asia and the Pacific. SNAP is driven by a diverse membership and through direct engagement and contribution from its members and stakeholders, particularly formerly stateless persons, stateless persons and persons at risk of statelessness. The authors of this report thank Xylie Tran of Fisher Dore Lawyers for her excellent research assistance in preparing this report. 3 The Institute (www.institutesi.org) is an independent non-profit organisation committed to an integrated, human rights based response to the injustice of statelessness and exclusion through a combination of research, education, partnerships and advocacy. Established in August 2014, it is the first and only global centre committed to promoting the human rights of stateless persons and ending statelessness. The Institute has made over 30 country specific UPR submissions on the human rights of stateless persons, and also compiled summaries of the key human rights challenges related to statelessness in all countries under review under the 23rd to the 30th UPR Sessions. For more information on the Institute’s UPR advocacy, see http://www.statelessnessandhumanrights.org/upr-universal-periodic-review/resources-database. 2