Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion and Statelessness Network Asia Pacific Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council at the 28th Session of the Universal Periodic Review Japan Introduction 1. The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion and the Statelessness Network Asia Pacific make this joint submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in relation to statelessness, access to nationality and human rights in Japan. 2. The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI)1 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. Over the past two years, the Institute has made over 10 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 27th UPR Sessions.2 3. The Statelessness Network Asia Pacific (SNAP)3 is a recently formed 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. SNAP is an independent non-profit organisation. 4. This submission focuses on children’s right to a nationality, the reduction and prevention of statelessness, the identification and protection of stateless persons in Japan and the arbitrary and indefinite detention of stateless persons and persons at risk of statelessness in Japan. It draws on the 1 For more information about ISI, please see the website http://www.institutesi.org/. For more on the Institute’s UPR advocacy, see http://www.institutesi.org/ourwork/humanrights.php 3 For more information about the Statelessness Network Asia Pacific, please see the website https://www.statelessnessnetworkasiapacific.org/ 2 2