Myanmar nationality) and returned to Myanmar, even on a temporary basis. Nevertheless, it is assumed that a significant number of Myanmar refugees remain in Japan without having taken the procedure for “regaining their nationality.” It is no surprise that individuals who have been recognized as refugees for being at risk of persecution from the government authorities of their country of origin avoid contact with such authorities or are unwilling to return to their country of origin. In light of the above and the Myanmar government’s reported practice with regard to the loss of nationality, there is a possibility that a significant number of Myanmar refugees have become stateless “who are not considered as a national under the operation of the law.” (2) Administrative response by Japan Most Myanmar refugees are considered by the Japanese authorities to have Myanmar nationality, with “Myanmar” shown in the “Nationality/area of origin” column on their (former) alien registration certificates and foreigner residence cards. With regard to legal actions relating to the personal status of refugees in Japan, such as marriage or filiation, the applicable law is Japanese law (see Article 12 of the Refugee Convention), and the difficulties in obtaining various documents from the country of origin are reduced. On the other hand, Myanmar law is applied to those who are not recognized as refugees but are given legal status based merely on humanitarian grounds, and they must submit certificates issued by the Myanmar government. Under Category D [Persons similarly situated as refugees] it is explained that in the naturalization procedure, the Civil Affairs Bureau of the Japanese Ministry of Justice considers a child born in Japan from a Vietnamese refugee to be of Vietnamese nationality. Similarly, it is understood that the nationality of a child born in Japan from a Myanmar refugee will be considered to be of Myanmar unless there are other exceptional circumstances. As a result, it has been found that a child born in Japan from a Myanmar refugee will be considered not to be “stateless” since from the time of his or her birth, and thus the child will fall outside the application of Article 8(iv) (simplified naturalization) of the Japanese Nationality Act and will not be able to obtain Japanese nationality unless the regular conditions for naturalization are met. 3. < Case 5 > Asylum seeker from Cameroon and her child (1) Response from the Embassy of Cameroon A, who is a national of Cameroon, applied for asylum in Japan in 2009 for reasons related to her religion. She claimed that the agent of persecution was not the State itself, but there was a lack of protection by the State of origin.140 In the same year, A had her passport stolen in Japan, so she went to the Embassy of Cameroon in Japan and asked to 140 The facts of Case 5 are based on a hearing from A on 25 September 2015 and 17 March 2017. 64