Category D [Consulate denial II (Persons similarly situated as refugees)] Persons unable to have their birth registered or a passport issued, etc., due to rejection by relevant consular authorities (or inability to pursue such assistance) for reasons related to their status being similar to refugees (Sample cases from Vietnam and Myanmar) Category D covers statelessness or risk of statelessness which is caused when persons who are not recognized as refugees under the 1951 Refugee Convention but are accepted in Japan as “settled refugees” or on “humanitarian grounds” cannot have their birth registered or passport issued, etc., by the consular authorities of the country of origin. < Case 7 > involves a second-generation Indochinese refugee who has remained unable to register herself as a national with the Vietnamese embassy in Japan, as her parents may possibly have lost their Vietnamese nationality and are without documents to prove their nationality. < Case 8 > involves a second-generation Myanmar refugee who was born in Japan after his or her parents arrived in Japan through third country resettlement but is highly likely to be refused birth registration with the Myanmar embassy due to the fact that his or her parents are without a valid Myanmar passport. 1. Introduction In addition to refugees who have been recognized as such under the 1951 Refugee Convention, Japan has admitted so-called “settled refugees (teijuu nanmin)”. Before and after the end of the 1975 Vietnamese war, a mass-exodus of people occurred from the three Indochinese countries, i.e. Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Japan also started to receive so-called "boat people" and admitted 11,319 Indochinese refugees from the abovementioned three countries between 1978 and 2005.151 Thirty years later, Japan introduced what is now referred to as a third country resettlement program to admit persons staying temporarily in places like refugee camps outside Japan. In the seven years between 2010 to 2016, Japan admitted a total of 123 refugees from Myanmar staying in refugee camps in Thailand or in Malaysia as "resettled refugees" by accepting some dozens consisting of several families every year. 152 The 151 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Kokunainiokeru Nanminno Ukeire [Acceptance of Refugees into Japan]” (October 2016), at http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/gaiko/nanmin/main3.html. 152 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Daisangoku Teijuu Nanmin (Dai 7 Jin) Nitaisuru Teijuu Shien Puroguramuno Kaishi [Settlement Assistance Programme Begins for Resettled Refugees (7th Group)]” (October 2016), at http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/press/release/press4_003777.html. 70

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