SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: EAST ASIA SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: EAST ASIA TABLE 02 FIGURE 06 FIGURE 07 Status of Accession Of International Human Rights Treaties Ethnic Minorities and foreigners in Japan Reported Stateless Population and Stateless Refugees in East Asia Country China (including HongKong, Taiwan) Japan Mongolia North Korea South Korea ✅ ⛔ ⚠ Stateless 1 Stateless 2 Refugee ICCPR ICESCR ICERD CRC CEDAW ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ✅ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ✅ ✅ ⛔ ⛔ ✅ ⛔ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ⚠ Signifies that the country is a party to the convention Signifies that the country is not a party to the convention Signifies that the country is a party to the convention with certain reservations Despite ratification of CEDAW, South Korea retains a reservation against article 9 which provides for the equal right to acquire, change or retain nationality for women and the equal right to pass nationality onto their children.149 The ICCPR is ratified by all states except China. In 1997 North Korea attempted to withdraw from the ICCPR, this act was rejected by the Secretary-General due to the Covenant’s lack of withdrawal provision.150 Stateless 1 - 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons Stateless 2 - 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness Undetermined Nationalities While reported figures of stateless populations may be low in East Asia, thousands of individuals remain with undetermined nationalities. China’s 2010 census showed that at least 13 million children lacked household registration (hukou) FIGURE 05 Stateless persons reported to the UNHCR Population Reported Stateless Population East Asia collectively reported a stateless population of 750 people to UNHCR in 2021. 600 Countries in East Asia collectively reported a stateless population of 750 people to UNHCR in 2021. East Asia is the only sub-region to see a reduction in their stateless population with 160 fewer stateless persons reported compared to 2020.151 Three of the five countries in the region reported small populations — Japan (531), Mongolia (17) and South Korea (202) — while China reported zero persons and North Korea was not included in the report.152 Despite the low figures reported by South Korea to UNHCR, a recent mapping report found that as many 10,032 stateless persons could be residing within South Korea.153 UNHCR has specifically noted China as a country in which they have information regarding stateless people but no reliable data.154 Foreigners in Japan are categorized as stateless and the status ethnic minorities remain uncertain Reported Stateless Refugees Foreigners Korean 131,684 26,312 Statistics Bureau of Japan, June 2021 preventing them from accessing the full rights of citizens.155 In Japan’s 2020 census the nationality of 131,684 foreigners in Japan was categorized as “stateless and name of country not reported”.156 Japan is the only country in East Asia with English-language and publicly accessible census statistics that include a “stateless/undetermined citizenship” status for foreigners.157 The status of ethnic minority groups in both Japan and Mongolia remains uncertain. As many as 26,312 ethnic Koreans in Japan remain categorized as “citizens of the Korean Peninsula (Korea or Chōsen)”158 and hold the status of “special permanent residents”.159 In Mongolia, thousands of ethnic Kazakhs have faced administrative barriers to reacquiring citizenship, which they lost in the early 1990s.160 Stateless Refugees 400 Collectively states in East Asia only reported 16 stateless refugees to the UNHCR in 2021, with the figures coming from two states, Japan (11) and South Korea (5).161 As a region, East Asia has a small refugee population compared to the other subregions of the Asia-Pacific. 200 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 China 500 300 Reported Stateless Population Japan South Korea Mongolia UNHCR, ‘Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2021’ (June 2022) stateless person in the subregion is very low in comparison to the unreported figures (e.g., in South Korea the reported figure of 202 stateless persons compared to the unreported figure of 10,032). This underreporting fails to provide CSOs and government with an accurate view of the situation. Stateless people may be left unattended and the gravity of the stateless situation in the country may not be realized. The absence of accurate data undermines efforts to bring about positive changes and legislative amendments in support of stateless people. Causes of Statelessness 100 Availability of Data Citizenship Stripping There is limited data reported on the stateless population in the East Asia subregion. Due to the lack of reliable data, the number of reported Following the end of the Second World War and Japan’s colonial rule over the Korean peninsula, approximately 52,000 ethnic Koreans in Japan 0 Japan Mongolia South Korea UNHCR, ‘Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2021’ (June 2022) 30 31 STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC REPORT 2023