SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: THE PACIFIC citizens.194 One such affected person successfully had their Australian citizenship recognized by the Federal Court of Australian in 2020, however the implication of this decision on others in similar circumstances is unclear.195 Stateless Refugees All the reported stateless population in the Pacific are stateless refugees, asylum seekers or, in the case of Australia persons in immigration detention. The populations of both Nauru and Papua New Guinea comprise entirely of Rohingya refugees.196 While many Pacific Island states are not large refugee-receiving countries — frequently reporting zero or single figure refugee populations — New Zealand reported over 2,500 refugees and asylum seekers to UNCHR in 2021.197 It is possible that some of this refugee population is stateless,198 however no mapping or statistics are available. Stateless persons born in Australia are eligible for citizenship under the laws of Australia, however stateless persons born outside of Australia cannot access citizenship under these provisions. Australia has provided temporary protection visas to some refugee cohorts since 1999, and all refugees who arrived in Australia without a valid visa since 2014. Persons on temporary visas were not entitled to apply for permanent residency (except in very limited circumstances) or citizenship, providing almost no avenues for stateless refugees to gain citizenship. In March The nationality laws of seven states (Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu) have no explicit protection for foundlings born on their territory. SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: THE PACIFIC 2023, the government of Australia introduced a new permanent visa pathway for approximately 19,000 refugees in Australia on temporary visas. This amendment will provide pathways to citizenship through naturalization for stateless refugees within Australia who were previously barred due to their visa status. Availability of data The absence of stakeholders in many of the nations in the Pacific is a hurdle to understanding the statelessness situation in the region. Within the Pacific most of the former SNAP members are based in Australia and less so in New Zealand. NFA’s work has not focused on the countries in the Pacific yet. As such, there are no stakeholder partners on the ground in other countries. There is a lack of data generally and this lack of connection with local CSOs raises questions on the reliability of the data that is available. Moreover, the absence of local CSOs is also problematic in contextualizing citizenship laws and prevalent statelessness problem in these countries. Causes of Statelessness Statelessness and climate change As a region, the Pacific faces some of the greatest risks of climate-induced statelessness. There are a number of articles and reports written on the risk of statelessness faced by citizens of The citizenship laws of four states (Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Tuvalu) provide citizenship to foundlings born on their territory. Foundling children in both Australia and New Zealand are automatically considered citizens. low-lying pacific states including Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu due to the impact of climate-induced sea-level rise.199 This risk of statelessness from “disappearing states” currently remains a hypothetical question, with most experts agreeing that this scenario will not inevitably lead to statelessness.200 Further, before any states disappear, the impact of relocation and increased displacement on communities and individual’s nationality status will need to be faced.201 It is this displacement across borders rather than the disappearance of islands that poses the most immediate risk of statelessness in the future. Due to the legal frameworks of some states in the Pacific some persons who relocate from their home countries are at risk of losing their citizenship or being unable to pass on their citizenship to their children.202 For example, under Tuvaluan laws, climate-induced relocation places naturalized citizens at risk of losing their Tuvaluan citizenship due to the existing citizenship loss provisions based on residence abroad.203 Discriminatory laws Restrictions on the basis of gender Kiribati is the only country in the in the Pacific with gender discriminatory nationality laws that limit or inhibit the ability of women to pass on their citizenship to children. Children born outside of the territory to mothers with Kiribati citizenship cannot access citizenship automatically.204 Compared to other Pacific Island states (such as Tonga), Kiribati has a smaller overseas population, with approximately 5,000 I-Kiribati’s living in New Kiribati is also the only nation in the Pacific that contains gender discriminatory laws that limit the ability of married women to confer their nationality onto foreign spouses on the same basis as men. Zealand and Australia.205 There are no reliable statistics on the number of persons this provision has affected. Kiribati is also the only nation in the Pacific that contains gender discriminatory laws that limit the ability of married women to confer their nationality onto foreign spouses on the same basis as men.206 Citizenship Stripping Concerns have been expressed by UNHCR and independent NGO’s regarding the potential statelessness of West Papuan refugees in Papua New Guinea, who due to absence from West Papua have lost their Indonesian citizenship and have been unable to access Papua New Guinean citizenship through naturalization. The Immigration and Citizenship Authority of Papua New Guinea has estimated that there are between 10–15,000 Indonesian Papuans living in the country.207 While there have been reports in recent years of some West Papuan refugees accessing citizenship, this does not appear to be universal.208 In 2021, the US Department of State reported that no Indonesian Papuans had been granted citizenship that year.209 Citizenship stripping is a concern in the context of Australia as well. Since 2015, Australian citizenship law has provided Ministerial powers to strip citizenship from dual nationals who have engaged in or were convicted of engaging in terrorist offences which demonstrated a “repudiation” of their allegiance to Australia.210 These provisions operate extra-territorially, and frequently persons stripped of citizenship have been unaware of the occurrence. At least twelve persons have been stripped of their Australian citizenship under these provisions, however the total number is likely much higher.211 While this provision only applies to dual citizens, and contains protections against statelessness, in at least one instance the purported dual citizenship was denied by the second state and the legality of the citizenship deprivation 38 39 STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC REPORT 2023