Manila, Philippines | 18-19 November 2011 A stateless person is “a person who is not considered as a national by any State under operation of its law”. 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, Article 1(1) Definition of Stateless Persons as defined in national laws of ASEAN countries “An ‘apatrid’ is an individual residing in the territory of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic who is not a Lao citizen and who is unable to certify his nationality.” Article 7, Law on Lao Nationality, 2004 “Stateless person is a person who has neither Vietnamese nationality nor foreign nationality.” Article 3(2) of Law on Vietnamese Nationality, 2008 conflicts in the nationality laws of ASEAN Member States that can lead to statelessness. This study would highlight possible technical reforms to nationality law that may be required to prevent and reduce statelessness in the region. Prevention: Addressing the root cause of statelessness There was general consensus that preventing statelessness is better than trying to resolve statelessness that has already arisen. Closing gaps in laws and policies that may cause statelessness at birth among children was seen as a key area to address in order to prevent statelessness. ASEAN Member States have implemented a number of key legal reforms to ensure gender equality in nationality law and to try to achieve universal birth registration. In addition, large scale nationality verification exercises have resulted in the confirmation of nationality for large numbers of migrant workers, helping to eliminate the risk of statelessness for that group. The large birth registration campaign that took place in Cambodia between 2004-2005 was highlighted as a good practice case study. More than 7 million birth certificates were issued Birth registration is of paramount importance for all children because a birth certificate is the legal document that proves their name, their place of birth and age, their parents’ identities. © UNHCR/P. Jambor 11 