Statelessness Working Paper Series No. 2015/04 2. The ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia The Vietnamese are the largest minority group in Cambodia. Recent estimates suggest they make up 5% of the total Cambodian population numbering around 400,000 - 500,000.11 The Vietnamese currently residing in Cambodia can be divided into two categories: those who are long term settlers who have lived in Cambodia for generations, with the omission of the Khmer Rouge period where they were forcibly deported to Vietnam and more recent migrants who have taken advantage of Cambodia’s open market policies. I will focus on the former group as it is their children and their children’s children who can be defined as being at high risk of statelessness, unlike the latter who are mostly citizens of Vietnam12. A small number of authors have written about the Vietnamese minority in Cambodia13 and even fewer have specifically addressed the issue of nationality.14 However, when the issue of nationality has been addressed it has been argued that the Vietnamese face a very real threat of statelessness - especially children.15 Without citizenship and other documentation for themselves, it is extremely difficult for ethnic Vietnamese parents to secure Cambodian nationality for their children based on Cambodia’s Nationality Law (1996). For instance, despite introducing a jus soli provision, ethnic Vietnamese children born in Cambodia can acquire nationality only insofar as their parents can prove that they were either born or have lived legally in the country.16 However, most Vietnamese who returned to Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge period lost their papers and cannot prove their residence before the adoption of the 1994 Immigration Law; therefore their children are not considered Cambodian citizens.17 For children to be considered Vietnamese citizens, their parents would have to apply for naturalization.18 However, most Vietnamese who are long term residents see Cambodia as their home and do not wish to leave. Furthermore, it is not guaranteed that the Vietnamese authorities would recognize them as eligible for citizenship.19 Cambodia is currently not a signatory of the Statelessness Conventions but is a signatory to other conventions with provisions to protect against statelessness. For example, Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child specifies that every child shall “be registered immediately after birth” and shall have “the right to acquire a nationality”. Moreover, Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulates that “everyone has the right to a nationality” and that “no-one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality”. However, this does not seem to have made a great impact on the lives of Vietnamese people in Cambodia who cannot claim citizenship rights and consequently face vulnerabilities in every area of life20. For the community in Preah Thnov, parents who have attempted to have their children registered have reported being rejected or required to pay large sums of money. 11 J Schliesinger, Ethnic Groups of Laos Vol 2: Profile of Austro-Asiatic-Speaking Peoples (BooksMango 2015). L Nguyen & C Sperfeldt, ‘Boat Without Anchors: A Report on the Legal Status of Ethnic Vietnamese Minority Populations in Cambodia under Domestic and International Laws Governing Nationality and Statelessness’ (2012) RegNet Research Paper No. 2014/50; B Ang & J Chan, ‘The Situation of Stateless Ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia LIMBO ON EARTH : An Investigative Report On the Current Living Conditions and Legal Status of Ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia’ (2014). 13 R Amer, ‘Domestic Political Change and Ethnic Minorities–A Case Study of the Ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia’ (2013) 13:2 Asia-Pacific Social Science Review 87; R Amer, ‘A Minority in at Risk ?’ (1994) 16 Contemporary Southeast Asia 210; CM Tarr, ‘The Vietnamese Minority in Cambodia’ (1992) 34 Race & Class 33; Didier Bertrand, ‘Refugees and Migrants, Migrants and Refugees. An Ethnological Approach’ (1998) 36 International Migration 107. 14 JS Berman, ‘No Place Like Home: Anti-Vietnamese Discrimination and Nationality in Cambodia’ (1996) 84 California Law Review 817; S Ehrentraut, ‘Perpetually Temporary: Citizenship and Ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia’ (2011) 34 Ethnic and Racial Studies 779. 15 Nguyen & Sperfeldt; Ang & Chan (n 12). 16 Art. 4(2) of 1996 Law on Nationality. 17 Ehrentraut (n 14). 18 Nguyen & Sperfeldt (n 12). 19 ibid. 20 IRIN, ‘Ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia Face Discrimination’ (2013) <http://www.irinnews.org/fr/report/98786/ethnicvietnamese-in-cambodia-face-discrimination> accessed 2 September 2015; Ang & Chan (n 12). 12 2