DESK REVIEW ON POPULATIONS AT RISK OF STATELESSNESS MIndanao (BARMM).8 Furthermore, Region XII (81.39%), Region VIII (85.54%), and Region IX (86.59%) also show a significant gap.9 • Foundlings:10 Data from the PSA includes 5,660 foundling certificates issued over the 10-year period from 2010 to 2019. • Children of Philippine descent in migratory settings: Particular concern has been raised about an estimated 55,000 to 97,000 persons of Philippine descent in Sabah;11 as well as undocumented children of Filipino parentage in the Gulf countries (Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, or the United Arab Emirates), which host the largest number of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). In addition to the above populations already identified by the Philippine government, 111 applications have been lodged through the statelessness status determination procedures in the Philippines since 2012 when Department Circular 58 was issued. Of this number, 108 applications were made by persons of Japanese Descent (PJD), who are children of Japanese citizens who migrated to the Philippines from the late 19th century to 1945, but whose fathers were conscripted into the Japanese military during World War II and were subsequently captured or killed, leaving their children behind.12 At least 13 cases so far have been recognized as stateless by the Department of Justice of the Philippines through the process, six of whom are PJD. The other 108 cases of PJD remain pending with the Department of Justice - Refugees and Stateless Persons Protection Unit (DOJ-RSPPU).13 The DOJ has noted that only legitimate children of Filipino mothers and Japanese fathers, who did not acquire the Japanese citizenship of their fathers, and also failed to elect Philippine citizenship when 8 Philippines Statistics Authority, Philippines’ Success in Improving Birth Registration, August 2017, available at: http://documents1. worldbank.org/curated/ar/913231510728898246/pdf/121394-WP-PUBLIC-Philippinesbirthregistrationcasestudywebversion Sept.pdf (“Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) had the lowest registration (37.9 percent) which means more interventions are needed to improve the CRVS in that region . It can be noted that Regions IX, VIII, XII, and ARMM have less than 90 .0 percent levels of birth registration.”). 9 Ibid. Once the 2016 Supreme Court rulings have been operationalized through the issuance of birth certificates and/or enactment of an enabling law recognizing their presumed Philippine citizenship, the risk of statelessness among foundlings may be addressed. 10 11 These numbers come from the Immigration Office in Malaysia in 2018, documented as persons who continue to annually renew the documentation issued to former Filipino refugees, but more up to date and accurate statistics are needed, and these figures may also include individuals who are not at risk of statelessness. Persons of Japanese Descent may be orphans left behind by parents who died or were returned to Japan or they may have remained with Filipino mothers and may have hidden their identity for fear of discrimination. 108 cases are reported to have approached the DOJ-Refugee and Stateless Persons Protection Unit (RSPPU). 12 13 UNHCR / April 2021 Determinations of status are made pursuant to Department Circular No. 58, by the RSPPU through a process of status determination. Figures are reported by the Department of Justice, Refugee and Stateless Persons Protection Unit, through initial consultations with UNHCR on the SURGE Capacity Project. The evidentiary challenge for the pending PJD stateless status applications appears to be a lack of appropriate civil documentation: birth certificates of the PJD, marriage certificates of their parents to indicate their being legitimate children of a Filipino mother and a Japanese father, and an official negative certification or similar document from the Japanese Government through its Embassy in Manila attesting that no record of birth is found in the Family Register of Japan, or that they did not acquire the Japanese citizenship of their Japanese fathers. 7