SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: SOUTHEAST ASIA SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: SOUTHEAST ASIA In the case of Brunei and Myanmar, jus sanguinis citizenship is restricted to certain ethnicities, with the laws of Brunei also containing genderdiscriminatory provisions. Persons born in Brunei who “are commonly accepted as belonging to” one of the seven “indigenous groups of the Malay race” are automatically considered citizens of Brunei if their father or both parents are citizens of Brunei.308 Further, children born outside of Brunei to a father who was born in Brunei and belonged to one of the seven Indigenous groups are considered citizens (but not those born to Bruneian mother).309 Children who have both a father and mother born in Brunei and who are a member of one of an additional 15 ethnic groups “considered to be Indigenous” to Brunei are considered citizens of Brunei whether they were born in or outside of the country.310 citizenship and naturalized citizenship, which the government may confer on any person “in the interest of the State”.312 In the case of Cambodia, in addition to jus sanguinis citizenship, children born in Cambodia to parents who are both foreigners and were both born and living legally in Cambodia can gain Khmer nationality/citizenship as well.313 The limited jus soli provision in Thailand provides that children born in Thailand can automatically acquire Thai citizenship unless they are born to alien parents, one of whom is a temporary resident, residing in Thailand illegally, or a diplomat.314 Ratification of Relevant Treaties There is varied ratification of treaties across Southeast Asia, with some states — including Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam — having very high rates of ratification, while others — Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Singapore — have very low rates. The Philippines is the only state in Southeast Asia, which is a party to Citizenship in Myanmar is defined largely upon ethnic grounds as citizenship is provided to certain defined ethnic groups who have been said to resided in Myanmar since 1823.311 Further, the citizenship law of Myanmar provides for two additional categories of citizenship — associate either the 1954 and 1961 Stateless Conventions, being party to both.315 Three states (Cambodia, the Philippines, and Timor-Leste) are parties to the Refugee Convention and its Protocol.316 All states are parties to CEDAW and CRC. Brunei and Malaysia maintain reservations to article 9(2) of CEDAW which provides women with equal rights regarding the nationality of their children. Malaysia has also retained a reservation with respect to article 7 of the CRC which provides the right to a nationality.317 Ratification of International laws relating to statelessness by the countries in Southeast Asia Country Brunei Cambodia Indonesia Laos Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Timor-Leste Vietnam ✅ ⛔ ⚠ Stateless 1 ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ✅ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ Stateless 2 ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ✅ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ Refugee 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 ⛔ ✅ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ⛔ ✅ ⛔ ⛔ ✅ ⛔ ICCPR ⛔ ✅ ✅ ✅ ⛔ ⛔ ✅ ⛔ ✅ ✅ ✅ ICESCR ⛔ ✅ ✅ ✅ ⛔ ✅ ✅ ⛔ ✅ ✅ ✅ ICERD ⛔ ✅ ✅ ✅ ⛔ ⛔ ✅ ✅ ✅ ⛔ ✅ CRC ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ⚠ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ CEDAW ⚠ ✅ ✅ ✅ ⚠ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ Stateless 1 - 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons Stateless 2 - 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness Reported Stateless Persons in Southeast Asia Southeast Asia has the largest number of persons affected by statelessness in the Asia-Pacific, collectively reporting over 1.4 million stateless persons. 800000 600000 500000 400000 Eight of the eleven states in the sub-region are parties to the ICESCR (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, TimorLeste, and Vietnam) and seven states have accessioned the ICCPR (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam).318 Six states (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam) are also all parties to ICERD.319 Population Reported Stateless Population TABLE 05 FIGURE 16 Based on statistics reported to UNHCR, Southeast Asia is the sub-region with the largest number of persons affected by statelessness in the Asia-Pacific, collectively reporting over 1.4 million stateless persons.320 All countries apart from Laos and TimorLeste have reported figures on stateless persons in 2021 to UNHCR. Most identified stateless populations within Southeast Asia comprise of in situ ethnic minority groups who have experienced protracted and intergenerational statelessness. In the region Myanmar has the largest reported stateless population, reporting 600,000 stateless persons to UNHCR in 2021.321 The UNHCR notes that the figure of 600,000 persons represents their higher range estimate of the number of stateless Rohingya both in Rakhine State and internally displaced.322 300000 200000 100000 0 Myanmar Thailand Cambodia Vietnam Brunei UNHCR, ‘Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2021’ (June 2022) Various reports claim that ethnic minority groups in Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam also face protracted and intergenerational statelessness.323 The largest of these populations officially reported to UNHCR includes 561,527 people in Thailand (largely comprised of members of the ‘Hill Tribe’ communities), 75,000 persons of Vietnamese ethnicity in Cambodia, a population of 35,475 people in Vietnam (including members of the Hmong community, and people of Cambodian heritage) and over 20,000 persons of Chinese heritage in Brunei.324 Persons at Risk of Statelessness Within the Philippines, six population groups have been identified as being at risk of statelessness being: indigenous sea-faring Sama Bajau, persons of Indonesian Descent (the status of most of this population group has been resolved in recent 56 57 STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC REPORT 2023