the entire Cambodian refugee population remaining in Viet Nam was stateless and waived the requirement for a certificate of renunciation of foreign nationality. With respect to the other naturalization requirements, the Vietnamese Government agreed to accept sworn statements attesting to applicants’ parentage and date and place of birth, rather than demanding the submission of birth certificates. It waived fees for individuals from this group and permitted elderly individuals to pass a simple verbal interview in spoken Vietnamese to satisfy the language requirement. In addition, the Central Government agreed to work with local and district officials in Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Doung and Binh Phuoc provinces to review individual applicants’ circumstances related to their curriculum vitae, judicial background certificate, certificate of continuous residence in Viet Nam and other information on domicile, occupation and income. Between 2008 and 2009, inter-ministerial working groups were established at the local level in Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Doung and Binh Phuoc provinces to implement the Operational Plan to naturalize the former Cambodian refugees. The Government decided to concentrate first on naturalizing the approximately 2,000 people still living in camps in the two provinces and Ho Chi Minh City. The three local working groups developed action plans for each province/city that included a census to verify the names of the individuals living in the former UNHCR camps. They also established mobile teams to conduct an information campaign and distribute and collect naturalization applications. In July 2010, the Vietnamese Government held the first naturalization ceremony, granting Vietnamese citizenship to 287 former Cambodian refugees who continued to reside in the former UNHCR refugee camp in Ho Chi Minh City.44 An additional 2,000 stateless Cambodian refugees residing in the former UNHCR camps in Binh Doung and Binh Phuoc provinces also acquired Vietnamese nationality through naturalization by the end of 2010.45 As the Vietnamese Government reviewed and approved naturalization applications from the camp-based applicants, UNHCR supported five micro projects through the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) to promote the local integration of this group of new citizens. The projects covered the provision of vocational-training equipment and kindergarten education as well improvements to road infrastructure to ease travel between the camps in the provinces and Ho Chi Minh City. Law reform to prevent and reduce statelessness, including among Vietnamese women who marry foreigners In addition to seeking to reduce statelessness among former Cambodian refugees, the Vietnamese Government also resolved to address statelessness among Vietnamese women who had married foreigners. It aimed to do so by reforming its nationality law and incorporating a number of safeguards against statelessness. Throughout the workshops and meetings with the Vietnamese Government from 2006 to 2008, UNHCR raised awareness of international legal standards that contribute to the prevention and reduction of statelessness. With this information, the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs led a process in consultation with the Department of Consular Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security in the Department of Immigration and other local bodies to reform its 1998 nationality law. The reformed Vietnamese Nationality Law entered into force on 1 July 2009.46 44 See UNHCR, Viet Nam ends stateless limbo for 2,300 former Cambodians, 19 July 2010, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/4c447a796.html. 45 See UNHCR, Statelessness: Former refugees win citizenship, and now dream of home ownership, 15 September 2011, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/4e7204db6.html. 46 Law on Vietnamese Nationality [Viet Nam], No. 24/2008/QH12, 13 November 2008, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4ac49b132.html. Please see also Decree No. 78/2009/ND-CP of September 22, 2009, detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4b470b2d2.html. 34 CAMPAIGN TO END STATELESSNESS WITHIN 10 YE ARS