Migrant Returnees 16. Migrants, who have recently returned to Viet Nam after extended periods of time abroad in Cambodia (often residing and working in the informal fishing industry, just over the Vietnamese border), frequently do not hold any civil documentation, including birth certificates.21 As a result, upon return to Viet Nam, they have difficulty proving their links to Viet Nam and accessing fundamental human rights.22 For example, children often cannot access education in Viet Nam without a birth certificate.23 Currently, there are at least 1000 returned migrants living in precarious housing settlements along the Viet NamCambodia border (but within Vietnamese territory).24 Children from this community who are without birth registration and whose parents are without identity documentation, are likely to be stateless or at risk of statelessness.25 Internal Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (“IDPs”) 17. Viet Nam has a restrictive, strictly enforced residential registration system, which determines access to social services, land and utilities.26 The system stipulates that citizens must register their permanent residence in only one district.27 The criteria for gaining permanent residence in a new district is “by purchasing land, marrying into a family who already hold permanent residence, or renting a house with an official lease and a minimum amount of liveable space”.28 18. This criteria is often unachievable for internal migrants and internally displaced persons,29 exacerbating the existing marginalisation and vulnerabilities of these populations.30 For 21 Duy Tran, ‘No money, no papers: stateless Vietnamese return home from Cambodia’ VN Express International (online) 9 August 2016 <https://e.vnexpress.net/news/travel-life/culture-arts/no-money-no-papers-stateless-vietnamese-returnhome-from-cambodia-3449463.html>; Tay Ninh, ‘No easy homecoming for stateless Vietnamese children from Cambodia’ Thanh Nien News (online) 12 July 2016 <http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/no-easy-homecoming-for-statelessvietnamese-children-from-cambodia-64102.html>. 22 Duy Tran, above n 23. 23 Ibid. 24 Ibid. 25 UNHCR, Birth Registration – Child Protection Brief (August 2013) Refworld < http://www.refworld.org/docid/523fe9214.html>; Guidelines on Statelessness No 4: Ensuring Every Child’s Right to Acquire a Nationality through Articles 1–4 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, UN Doc HCR/GS/12/04 (21 December 2012) 12 [55] (‘Guidelines on Statelessness No 4’). 26 Norwegian Refugee Council, 2018 Global Report on Internal Displacement –Spotlight: Vietnam (2018) Refworld <http://www.refworld.org/topic,50ffbce526e,50ffbce5274,5b28b7392,0,,,VNM.html>; Jonathan De Luca, ‘Vietnam’s Left Behind Urban Migrants’ The Diplomat (online) 8 April 2017 <https://thediplomat.com/2017/04/vietnams-left-behindurban-migrants/>; Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, above n 22. 27 Jonathan De Luca, above n 28. 28 Ibid. 29 United Nations Population Fund and Vietnam General Statistics Office, The 2015 National Internal Migration Survey: Major Findings (13 December 2012) United Nations Population Fund (Vietnam) <http://vietnam.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/PD_Migration%20Booklet_ENG_printed%20in%202016.pdf>. 30 Jonathan De Luca, above n 28. 6