Trends related to statelessness around the world As of 2010 when the Abe Report was released, UNHCR had estimated the number of stateless persons worldwide as 12 million; 3 six years later at the end of 2016, the estimated number of stateless persons and persons at risk of statelessness was 10 million.4 On first glance at these statistics can indicate that the number of stateless persons has decreased over the years. However, in only the six years following 2010, an enormous number of refugees and displaced persons5 had fled from Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, and other areas of conflict. Particularly considering this situation, there are concerns that there may be many people who are in a vulnerable position not only due to displacement but also due to the uncertainty about their nationality, and that such people continue to be newly generated. In addition to this, the effects of the emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), for example, also need to be examined as a new factor destabilizing the systems related to nation-State and nationality. The Necessity of “mapping” activities Under these difficult circumstances in the world, UNHCR has been courageously promoting the “I belong” campaign to achieve the goal of ending statelessness in 10 years by 2024. In order to resolve statelessness, it is important to understand the actual state of the related issues as accurately as possible. 6 Considering this, every country is keenly 3 UNHCR, UNHCR Global Trends 2010 (2011), at http://www.unhcr.org/statistics/country/4dfa11499/unhcr-global-trends-2010.html, p. 2. In the Preface of the Abe Report, Johan Cels, Representative of UNHCR Tokyo at the time, introduces the same estimates. 4 UNHCR, Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2016 (2017), at http://www.unhcr.org/5943e8a34, p. 2. 5 On the nexus between refugees and statelessness, see for example Institute of Statelessness and Inclusion, “Statelessness and Displacement: Scoping Paper”(2015), at http://www.institutesi.org/stateless_displacement.pdf. 6 Needless to say, under ideal circumstances, the establishment of a statelessness determination system in each country and statelessness determinations using unified criteria would contribute to an accurate grasp of stateless persons. However, the number of States that have established statelessness determination systems remains at just over ten at the time of writing, including France, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Latvia, UK, and the Philippines, although the number is on the rise. On each State’s statelessness determination procedure as of July 2016, see, UNHCR, Good Practices Paper – Action 6: 12