citizenship.12 Some indigenous groups in Cambodia may reportedly also have had difficulty establishing their nationality.13 Historic and modern patterns of human migration, across the sometimes porous borders of ASEAN states, have added a layer of complexity to the question of access to citizenship.14 In regulating access to citizenship governments need to determine which groups “belong” to the state. While conferring nationality to those with a clear, enduring link, states may decide not to include more recently arrived migrants. They are seen, instead, as a foreign presence. In practice, however, it may be difficult to differentiate between persons with a longstanding connection to the state and individuals who have settled there more recently – especially if there has not been a comprehensive civil registration or documentation system in place. Moreover, even within one or two generations after emigration, individuals may no longer be considered citizens by their state of origin. Consider the example of Vietnamese women who gave up their nationality when they emigrated to marry a foreign man and found themselves stateless when the marriage broke down.15 Where migrants are or have become undocumented, the risk of statelessness is heightened because it can become very difficult to establish a tie with any state – as can be seen today in the situation of children of Philippine and Indonesian migrant workers in Sabah, Malaysia.16 Another issue generating a risk of statelessness in ASEAN countries is the often inadequate coverage of birth registration systems. UNICEF has estimated that 17% of births, an equivalent of 5.1 million children per year, go unregistered in the East Asia / Pacific region.17 In some ASEAN states, the registration rate is well below even this average. For instance, UNICEF statistics point to 71.5% coverage in Lao PDR, 64.9% in Myanmar and just 55.1% in Indonesia.18 The lack of birth registration renders children significantly more vulnerable to statelessness because it leaves them without proof of place of birth, parentage and other key facts needed to establish their position under the nationality law. Finally, a brief examination of nationality legislation reveals that ASEAN countries generally do not uphold adequate safeguards to prevent statelessness. For example, only half provide for any right to acquire citizenship on the basis of birth on state territory and there are inadequate safeguards in place to prevent statelessness in the context of the renunciation, loss or deprivation of nationality. These and other shortcomings in the region’s nationality laws will continue to contribute to problems of statelessness in the region until they are addressed. 12 Human Rights Committee, Concluding Observations: Thailand, CCPR/CO/84/THA, 8 July 2005; UNHCR, UNHCR Global Report 2008 – Thailand, June 2009; Minority Rights Group International, State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2009 – Thailand, 16 July 2009; M. Lynch; K. Southwick, Nationality rights for all: A progress report and global survey on statelessness, Refugees International, 2009; US Department of State, 2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – Thailand, 11 March 2010. 13 Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Concluding Observations: Cambodia, CERD/C/304/Add.54, 30 March 1998. 14 During the colonial period, migration was often actively promoted by colonial powers – for instance of Vietnamese to Cambodia under French rule. Minority Rights Group International, World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples – Cambodia: Vietnamese, 2008. Periods of post-colonial unrest in some ASEAN countries encouraged large-scale displacement within the region. In addition, according to the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism, today there are more than 13 million migrant workers from ASEAN countries working abroad – of whom, around 5 million can be found in other ASEAN states. ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN Seeks to Protect and Promote Migrant Workers Rights, 21 July 2010. 15 UNHCR, Divorce leaves some Vietnamese women broken-hearted and stateless, 14 March 2007; M. Lynch; K. Southwick, Nationality rights for all: A progress report and global survey on statelessness, Refugees International, 2009; UNHCR, Vietnam sets the pace for Asia with new law to prevent statelessness, 1 July 2009; US Department of State, 2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – Vietnam, 11 March 2010. Steps that have since been taken to address this problem in Viet Nam are discussed in section 5. 16 C. Olson, Malaysia: Undocumented children in Sabah vulnerable to statelessness, Refugees International, 13 June 2007; UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, Vernor Munoz Villalobos: addendum: mission to Malaysia, 20 March 2009. 17 Note that this statistic is given for the East Asia / Pacific region which includes a number of additional countries along with the 10 ASEAN states. UNICEF, Progress for children: A world fit for children statistical review, Number 6, December 2007. 18 UNICEF Country Statistics: the data for Lao PDR dates from 2006, for Myanmar from 2003 and for Indonesia from 2002. Note that Particular difficulties are experienced by children born within isolated, ethnic minority, migrant or refugee communities. See, for instance, Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Vietnam, CRC/C/15/Add.200, 18 March 2003; Concluding Observations: Malaysia, CRC/C/MYS/CO/1, 25 June 2007; Concluding Observations: Philippines, CRC/C/48/3, 16 November 2009. 3