    However, although statelessness may result from migration, many people on the move are already stateless before they even cross a border. The experience of the stateless resident differs from that of the stateless refugee. On the one hand, in situ stateless persons will be located within existing communities, which may allow for a degree of social and familial stability in their every day life. In contrast, stateless refugees are displaced from their homes and may experience serious threats to their physical existence and well-being. On the other hand, in situ stateless persons tend to be overlooked by the state and international organizations, and therefore may experience chronic and long-term disabilities with no prospect of improvement in their status and conditions. In contrast, stateless refugees may receive assistance from the UNHCR or other international organizations, and have some prospect, in the long run, of rectifying their stateless status with that assistance. Accordingly, there is a need to look at statelessness outside of the refugee/forced migration context as a distinct area of study. This book is the first to focus on statelessness in Asia. The various chapters employ case studies in Asia to highlight the causes, conditions, and/or challenges of statelessness. The causes of statelessness are varied, context-specific and interconnected. Some common causes transcend regions and can be almost seen as a universalizable phenomenon, but others are more specific due to the historical, social, and cultural contexts of the particular area. Thus, while some common causes of statelessness in Asia are not region-specific, such as inadequate legal frameworks, weaknesses in civil registration systems, lack of protections for migrants and mobile lifestyles, others like ethnic or national discrimination, gender discrimination, and colonial legacies may be more particular.17 In approaching statelessness as a multifaceted phenomenon, this book centres the person as a legal subject of statelessness as well as a social and political subject whose experiences are conditioned by their legal status. We shed light on the co-constitutive relationship between one’s legal status and one’s social-political conditions. For instance, one’s stateless legal status could give rise to discrimination and marginalization, while at the same time, status as a member of a marginalized and discriminated group further perpetuates the resistance towards granting citizenship. More often than not there are clear links between the individual and their 17 Christoph Sperfeldt, ‘Legal Identity and Statelessness in Southeast Asia’ (2021) 147 Asia Pacific Issues 1 <www.eastwestcenter.org/publications/legal-identity-and-statelessnessin-southeast-asia> accessed 12 September 2023. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009399555.003 Published online by Cambridge University Press