Statelessness & Citizenship Review 2019 1(1) children are at the extreme end of the spectrum as they are most vulnerable due to lack of documentation. In this way, the legal statuses of the children of returned marriage migrants in Can Tho, Vietnam range from children who have acquired Vietnamese nationality (‘Category 1’), those who have only their father’s foreign nationality (‘Category 2’ and ‘Category 4’), and those for whom it is claimed they have both a foreign and Vietnamese nationality (‘Category 3’). For those in Category 2 and Category 4 de facto statelessness or lack of effective protection arises because of the child’s temporary household registration status or lack of household registration. In the case of Category 4, the lack of documentation is an additional vulnerability factor. For those in Category 1, their Vietnamese nationality is potentially precarious as the child’s status as a citizen of Vietnam may be revoked and their registration may be cancelled if fraudulent conduct is detected. On the other hand, administrative discretion might be exercised in their favour. They are thus at risk of de facto statelessness. IV NATIONAL IDENTITY: HOUSEHOLD REGISTRATION, NATIONALITY LAWS AND STATELESSNESS IN VIETNAM In this part we describe first, the household registration system to further develop our argument above that many children of returned marriage migrants are at risk of de facto statelessness or lack of effective protection or nationality. We then explain Vietnam’s nationality laws and approach to statelessness to assist us to move towards our conclusions. A The Household Registration System as De Facto Nationality In our view within Vietnam’s legal system, nationality alone is not determinative of the issue of ‘effective citizenship’ or ‘nationality’. Rather, understanding Vietnam’s household registration system is critical to appreciating the barriers faced by children of returned marriage migrants in accessing or claiming social rights and protections usually associated with nationality. Historically, socialist Vietnam has ‘regulated residence and restricted movement through the ho khau system’. 82 Similar to communist China, the system is intended to prevent surges in urbanisation from disrupting state planning or increasing unemployment, but also for internal security and control purposes. 83 The current significance of the household registration system in the context of marriage migration in the region suggests that it is considered as a form of de facto nationality or ‘local citizenship’, especially in China which places less emphasis the idea of ‘national’ citizenship. 84 We suggest this may be the case in Vietnam as 82 83 84 World Bank, Vietnam’s Household Registration System (Report, June 2016) 1 (‘Vietnam’s Household Registration System’). ibid. Isabelle Cheng, ‘Reality or Pretense? Renouncing Nationality and Organized Hypocrisy of the Sovereignty of Taiwan’ (2017) 26(4) Asian and Pacific Migration Journal 436, 437–8. In this article Isabelle Cheng argues that Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China (‘PRC’) practice ‘organized hypocrisy’ in permitting the PRC to cancel the household registration of PRC marriage migrants to Taiwan (rather than their Chinese nationality as such). She contrasts the acquiescence of Vietnam to allow Vietnamese nationals to renunciate their nationality. 86