The problem of statelessness became an agenda of international concern after events mainly in Europe in the first half of the 20th century. At first, a clear distinction between stateless persons and refugees did not exist. While the refugee problem attracted public attention after the Second World War, statelessness continued to receive very little attention. As will be described below, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been entrusted with responsibilities in relation to stateless people since the mid-1970s. However, the Independent Commission on International Humanitarian Issues (ICIHI) observed that “[t]he UNHCR was more or less indifferent to the fate of stateless persons… the term “stateless person” hardly ever appears in UNHCR publications.”5 Vast changes occurred in the post Cold War period. 6 Within Europe, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, state succession gave rise to statelessness. Afterwards, the problem became a global humanitarian concern that posed a security risk. Outside Europe, the existence of stateless persons was reconfirmed in the Middle East and South East Asia. UNHCR expanded its role in working for the stateless.7 At the end of 2008, UNHCR published statistics on 6.6 million stateless persons in 58 countries. It also estimated the number of stateless persons in the world to be about 12 million.8 Japan is not immune to this problem as will be discussed later in this paper. 5 Independent Commission on International Humanitarian Issues, Winning the Human Race (1988), p.112, quoted in UNHCR, The State of the World’s Refugees 1997-98: A Humanitarian Agenda, p.227. 6 Current UNHCR activities on behalf of stateless persons, EC/1995/SCP/CRP.6, 21 Sep.1995, para.1. 7 The State of the World’s Refugees: A Humanitarian Agenda, supra note 5, p.17. See also, The World’s Stateless People: Questions and Answers, supra note 4, p.5; Prevention and Protection of Statelessness and the protection of Stateless persons, 20 October 1995, No. 78 (XLVI)-1995. This UNHCR Executive Committee conclusion 78 invited UNHCR to provide information on activities undertaken on behalf of stateless persons biennially, beginning at the forty-seventh session of the Executive Committee held in 1997. 8 UNHCR, 2008 Global Trends: Refugees, Asylum-seekers, Returnees, Internally Displaced and Stateless Persons (June 2009), available at http://www.unhcr.org/4a375c426.html. 8