Definitions of statelessness under domestic law Viet Nam and Lao PDR are the only ASEAN countries to provide a definition of a stateless person in their law. The Law on Vietnamese Nationality provides that a stateless person is “a person who has neither Vietnamese nationality nor foreign nationality”.76 While not following the formula to the letter, this definition is in general conformity with the internationally recognised definition of a stateless person. It thereby offers Viet Nam an invaluable tool in the identification of statelessness such that situations become both transparent and comparable at the international level. According to the Law on Lao Nationality, an apatrid [stateless person] is “an individual residing in the territory of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic who is not a Lao citizen and who is unable to certify his nationality”.77 On the one hand, this definition is more restrictive than that provided under international law: only once a person is residing in Lao PDR can his or her statelessness be recognised under this law. On the other hand, the definition is also quite pragmatic, since it refers to persons who are unable to certify their nationality. This could lower the burden of proof, in practice, for persons seeking to be recognised as stateless and make it easier for them to access entitlements accordingly. The absence of coherence of definition has somewhat muddied the picture of statelessness in the region. The term “statelessness” may be used to describe a population even though there is insufficient knowledge or capacity to ascertain whether the individuals are stateless in accordance with international law. In fact, many groups that have been described as stateless at one time or another, can more properly be labelled as at risk of statelessness. This is the case, for instance, where children who lack birth registration or migrants who have become undocumented are classified as stateless without further regard for their circumstances.78 Their situation does make them more vulnerable to statelessness and some among them may indeed lack a nationality, so it is certainly useful to identify such groups with a view to adopting strategies to prevent statelessness. However, it would be inaccurate to describe these entire populations as stateless. Instead, effort is needed to fully assess the situation of individuals within these broader groups in order to verify people’s nationality and ascertain who is, indeed, stateless. For those whose nationality can be confirmed, statelessness has been avoided. For those who remain, other solutions must be pursued to address their situation. This is how identification can successfully feed into the prevention and reduction of statelessness as well as the protection of stateless persons. 4. Prevention of statelessness “Prevention” refers to any measures taken to avoid creating new cases of statelessness. Indeed, “the easiest and most effective way to deal with statelessness is to prevent it from occurring in the first place”.79 Given the fundamental importance of prevention activities, it is encouraging that many ASEAN countries have begun to identify populations within their borders that are at risk of statelessness.80 This information can strengthen strategies for prevention in the region. 76 Article 3 of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality, Order No. 22/2008/L-CTN, 2008. Article 7, Law on Lao Nationality, No. 06/90/PSA, 1990, as amended. 78 “While nationality is normally acquired independently and birth registration in and of itself does not normally confer nationality upon the child concerned, birth registration does constitute a key form of proof of the link between an individual and a State and thereby serves to prevent statelessness”. UNHCR Standing Committee, Birth registration: A topic proposed for an Executive Committee Conclusion on International Protection, EC/61/SC/CRP.5, 9 February 2010 79 António Guterres (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) and Louise Arbour (UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, The hidden world of the stateless, November 2007. 80 See Section 3 on identification efforts. 77 12