INTRODUCTION Introduction Statelessness Encyclopedia Asia Pacific (SEAP) Second Edition is the culmination of over three years of research and consultations commenced by Nationality for All (NFA). The first edition of SEAP originated from an internal research project undertaken by NFA in the process of early organizational development and strategic planning, which was later decided to be made public and accessible. Building upon the first edition, this second edition has expanded to cover all subregions in the Asia-Pacific as well as provide detailed country factsheets for each country in the region. This edition is designed to be published in four different versions. This report is the shortened version, which incorporates takeaways from the five subregions of Asia Pacific and an expanded thematic scope to include a detailed analysis of different ways of citizenship acquisition, treaty body analyses, statelessness pledges by different States, legal safeguards for the children to prevent them from statelessness, among others. A second version is the detailed report that includes the country factsheets covering all countries in the region. The next intended step for the report is to be published in the form of a compendium, which would incorporate detailed versions with all factsheets, segregated by different subregions as five separate reports (SEAP East Asia Report; SEAP Central Asia Report; SEAP Southeast Asia Report; SEAP South Asia Report and SEAP The Pacific Report). Finally, NFA aims to convert this report version into a book, which would also include complete information about the subregions and would also cover all factsheets in the region. NFA’s objectives for this shorter version of SEAP remain as follows:  Provide an overview of the statelessness situation in the Asia Pacific region. 10   Generate more attention and advocacy on the issue of statelessness in the region. Identify areas of collaboration among stakeholders and areas of further research on the issue. Background NFA was formed from the work undertaken by the Statelessness Network Asia Pacific (SNAP) over four years to build a regional civil society movement on addressing statelessness in the region. In October 2020, SNAP transitioned from a project hosted by the Malaysian NGO, Development of Human Resources for Rural Areas (DHRRA) Malaysia, to an organization registered in Australia under the new name of Nationality for All (NFA). A key element of the decision to transition from SNAP to NFA was to shift from a network into an organization operating from a partnership-based model. We recognized that this organizational transition required a period of reflection and recalibration of NFA’s position and role in the region. To do this, we acknowledged that we needed a stronger understanding of the statelessness problem, the actors involved, the communities affected, and the available data and information on the issue. Working in partnerships rather than a network model requires greater trust and collaboration between NFA and its partner organizations. By switching to the partnership model, NFA continued to develop a greater understanding of stakeholders to collaborate with and identify areas where these partnerships would have the greatest impact. Realizing the need for a safe space to convene, collaborate and learn from each other, NFA has STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC (DETAILED VERSION) been facilitating the formation of a regional coalition on statelessness composed of civil society organizations working on statelessness in the Asia Pacific region. Learning from the experience of SNAP and trying to emulate the success of the European Network on Statelessness (ENS), we conducted a risk assessment process, formed an Advisory Committee, and then organized two in-person consultations with interested stakeholders. We decided to form a strong blueprint for the coalition and take collective and forward looking decisions to form the coalition. The name of the Coalition was adopted in July, 2023 as ‘Statelessness and Dignified Citizenship Coalition - Asia Pacific’ (SDCC - AP), which will be launched during the World Conference on Statelessness, 2024. At the 2023 Global Refugee Forum (GRF), NFA made several pledges pertaining to the prevention of statelessness. GRF is a space for “stakeholders to share good practices and pledge financial support, technical expertise and policy changes to support comprehensive responses for refugees and ultimately the objectives of the Global Compact of Refugees”.9 Recognizing the importance of fair and meaningful participation of stateless activists and changemakers in addressing statelessness, NFA pledged to strengthen organizations in the Asia Pacific region that are led by stateless persons or persons affected by statelessness. NFA also pledged to support the newly formed regional network SDCC- AP and to center the interests of affected persons in this new Coalition. Rationale and Assumptions Across the statelessness sector the issue of the lack of accurate statistics and information is prominent, serving as both the rationale behind the research undertaken in this report as well as the assumption that not all existing data used in the research may be accurate. In numerous NFA’s pledges include:  Support four affected or stateless personsled organizations in the Asia Pacific region to strengthen their institutional capacities including fundraising and project management.  Create an accessible online knowledge hub on statelessness in the Asia Pacific.  Become a member of the UNHCR-led Global Alliance to End Statelessness and actively participate in the Working Groups and activities of the Alliance.  Promote the participation of the Global Alliance amongst the Asia Pacific civil society and governmental organizations.  Play an active role in forming and operationalizing the Global Movement Against Statelessness. Adding to these pledges, NFA also joined the following multi-stakeholder pledges made at the event:  Multistakeholder Pledge: Ending Statelessness | The Global Compact on Refugees | UNHCR  Multistakeholder Pledge: Advancing Localisation in Displacement and Statelessness Responses | The Global Compact on Refugees | UNHCR consultations and meetings held by NFA between 2020–23, the issue of a lack of data was raised by both NGOs and UN bodies as a key concern. UNHCR has recognized this issue noting that their own estimate of 5.1 million stateless people globally is likely far below the true figure.10 On this, UNHCR has noted that: Yet, the global figure remains an undercount as data on stateless populations or those of undetermined nationality is missing or incomplete for many countries, including some with known stateless populations. The lack of reliable quantitative data continues to pose challenges to effectively address statelessness and advocate for solutions.11 REPORT 2024 11