Practical Measures to Meaningfully Implement Article 1(1)
or the data was unavailable. 30 Yet statistics published on the Department of Home
Affairs website state that there were at least 3,214 stateless persons in Australia as
of 31 December 2019.31 The true figure is likely to be much higher. 32
One likely explanation for the discrepancy between these two sets of data is
that UNHCR’s statistical reporting methodology ‘reports on one legal status for
each person of concern only’. 33 This means that only persons exclusively under
UNHCR’s statelessness protection mandate are reported in its statelessness
statistics, whereas stateless persons, who also fall under other UNHCR protection
mandates, such as refugees or asylum seekers, are excluded. 34
More recently, UNHCR’s Global Trends Report for 2020 recorded 5,221
stateless persons in Australia; the most comprehensive figure to date. 35 UNHCR
states that these figures have been sourced from the Australian Government, but
caution that, given Australia’s lack of a statelessness determination procedure, the
number does not capture all stateless persons and is therefore not an estimate of
statelessness in Australia.36 With no formal mechanism for identifying stateless
persons in Australia, difficulties therefore exist in identifying and assisting
children with an entitlement to citizenship.
ACCESSING CITIZENSHIP IN AUSTRALIA: PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS
When our son was granted Australian citizenship we were extremely happy. It was
a big deal, because we have never known in our lives what it is like to be a citizen. 37
— Muhammad and Sumaiya,* Australian-based stateless Rohingya parents to
three children.
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
UNHCR, Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2019 (Report, 2020) 82 n 8
<https://www.unhcr.org/5ee200e37.pdf> (‘Global Trends 2019’).
This figure includes 106 stateless persons in community detention, 1,060 stateless persons on
Bridging Visas and 2,048 stateless persons on temporary visas. See Department of Home
Affairs and Australian Border Force, Immigration Detention and Community Statistics
Summary (Report, 31 December 2019) 8 <https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-andstats/files/immigration-detention-statistics-31-december-2019.pdf>; Department of Home
Affairs and Australian Border Force, Illegal Maritime Arrivals on Bridging E Visa (Report,
31 December 2019) <https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/illegalmaritime-arrivals-bve-dec-2019.pdf>; Department of Home Affairs, IMA Legacy Caseload,
Report on Processing Status and Outcomes (Report, December 2019) 3
<https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/ima-legacy-caseload-dec2019.pdf> (‘IMA Legacy Caseload Report 2019’).
These figures do not include stateless persons who arrived in Australia through the annual
Special Humanitarian Program or the national Migration Program; nor do they include
Permanent Residents or Permanent Protection Visas holders. As such, the true figure could
be much higher. Furthermore, this figure does not include the 845 stateless people with a
temporary visa application on hand or at review stage to prevent any double-counting. See
IMA Legacy Caseload Report 2019 (n 31).
Global Trends 2019 (n 30) 82 n 8. The only exception to this is Myanmar: ‘due to the
extraordinary size of the displaced stateless population from Myanmar, UNHCR considers it
important to reflect the dual status that this population group possesses, pending a review of
UNHCR reporting on statelessness’: at 86.
Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, The World’s Stateless (Report, December 2014) 7
<https://files.institutesi.org/worldsstateless.pdf>.
Global Trends 2020 (n 3) 71, citing UNHCR, Global Trends Annex Tables (Report, 2021)
table 1 <https://www.unhcr.org/en-au/60b638e37.pdf> (‘Global Trends 2020 Annex Tables’).
Regarding Australia, see Global Trends 2020 Annex Tables (n 35) n 2.
See A Place to Call Home (n 1) 11.
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