INTRODUCTION colour, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of the following rights: (d) Other civil rights, in particular: (iii) The right to nationality; CEDAW, Article 9: (1) States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men to acquire, change or retain their nationality. They shall ensure in particular that neither marriage to an alien nor change of nationality by the husband during marriage shall automatically change the nationality of the wife, render her stateless or force upon her the nationality of the husband. (2) States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men with respect to the nationality of their children. CRC, Article 7: (1) The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents. (2) States Parties shall ensure the implementation of these rights in accordance with their national law and their obligations under the relevant international instruments in this field, in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless. In each Country Factsheet, the layout of treaty ratification extends to include recent concluding observations pertaining to statelessness, relevant Universal Periodic Review information, and pledges undertaken by the country, if available. Concluding Observations In each Country Factsheet, the layout of treaty ratification extends to include recent concluding observations pertaining to statelessness, relevant Universal Periodic Review information, and pledges undertaken by the country, if available. 16 INTRODUCTION Concluding Observations Concluding observations act as a method of monitoring and evaluation of State parties (countries who have ratified the UN treaty body) on the implementation of the rights included in UN treaty bodies. By ratifying a UN treaty, State parties are required to submit periodic reports on the State’s progress in fulfilling the rights outlined by the treaty body. Periodic reports on the progress of the State’s fulfillment of included rights can also be submitted by CSOs or any other non-state actor. From both the State government’s report and any reports submitted by non-state actors, the UN Committee makes recommendations for the State to fulfil their commitments to the protected rights in the treaty body. While the CRC does not have a follow-up procedure for concluding observations, the ICCPR, ICERD, ICESCR, and CEDAW do. In the follow-up procedure, the State party must respond on how it has been fulfilling the recommendations made by the UN Committee. The Special Rapporteur, who is appointed to monitor specific human rights, will then submit a letter to the State party stating whether or not they are satisfied with the State party’s response to the provided recommendations. Universal Periodic Review The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is also a monitoring and evaluation process on the implementation of human rights, but extends to cover all countries and all human rights. Every country is reviewed approximately every 4.5 years. Before the review, reports are submitted by the State, the UN, and non-state actors which include evaluation of the State’s progress in fulfilling human rights as well as recommendations for improvement. The review is then held in Geneva, where an interactive dialogue is held regarding the reports submitted where other States may make recommendations to the State under review. The State under review may either accept or note the recommendations provided by other States. After the review, the Working STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC (DETAILED VERSION) Group on the Universal Periodic Review then submits a concluding report. States are expected to implement the recommendations provided in the UPR before the next session. 2. 3. 4. 5. Pledges The following definitions were adopted in this report. At the 2023 Global Refugee Forum (GRF) and the High-Level Segment on Statelessness in 2019, several countries in the region made pledges towards the prevention, reduction, and elimination of statelessness. Any pledges regarding statelessness are included in the Country Factsheets along with, where possible, an analysis of the extent to which that country has fulfilled the pledges made. Population Data and sources Qualitative and quantitative data have been gathered and included on populations affected by statelessness across the region. Quantitative data was drawn from the “official” population number provided by states to UNHCR published in the annual Global Trends on Forced Displacement Report (‘Global Trends’). This edition includes Global Trends data from 2022, published in June 2023. Other publicly available data of estimated or reported population numbers were also included. Sources utilized include independent reports, census counts, media releases and statements from governments, media reporting and academic reports. Qualitative data was gathered from sources including UN reports, media reporting, academic articles, independent reports and the abovementioned consultations, regional stakeholders/ researchers and bilateral meetings. Definitions and terminology This report categorizes population groups into five defined groups being: 1. Stateless persons Persons at risk of statelessness Undetermined nationality Stateless refugees Other population of note Stateless person: a person “who is not considered a national by any State under the operation of its Law”30 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, Article 1. Person at risk of statelessness: as a term without a single definition under international law, “at risk of statelessness” there are a number of interpretations of this term. This report adopts a broad definition of the term, focusing on persons and populations who lack relevant identity documents including birth registration, confirmation of citizenship or identity card (or a combination of these) that undermines their ability to meet requirements to prove their citizenship.31 Undetermined Nationality: there is no absolute consensus on the definition of undetermined nationality under international law either. UNHCR has previously utilized the term “as an umbrella expression for the classification of the nationality status as ‘unknown’, ‘undetermined’ or ‘under investigation’. The term also covers cases where States do not classify a person as ‘stateless’, but rather use a specific term based on their domestic law.”32 There also exist a few additional definitions for persons of “undetermined nationality” including:  UNHCR’s working definition of persons of undetermined nationality being “a person who lacks proof of possession of any nationality and who at the same time has or is perceived as having links to a State other than the one he/she is living in.”33 REPORT 2024 17