has not been acknowledged find it more difficult to enjoy the social services they should be entitled to unless their existence is officially confirmed with birth registry. Lack of information on the part of the parents or administrative officials seem to keep a substantial number of unregistered children away from educational opportunities.137 Convention Refugees, Indo-Chinese Refugees, and Asylum-seekers Information about people who are recognized as Convention refugees or granted special resident permits for humanitarian reasons is published according to nationality, as is the case with applicants for refugee status. Nationality is determined by reference to passports, other identification documents and the individuals’ own statements. Cases of stateless applicants for refugee status are not very visible; it is estimated that there have been less than 20 such cases.138 Besides Convention refugees, Japan accepted 11,319 Indo-Chinese refugees during the period from 1978 to March 2006. The breakdown is as follows: 8,656 Vietnamese, 1,357 Cambodians and 1,306 Laotians. For reasons that prompted their departure, many of the Indo-Chinese refugees are reportedly not treated as nationals by their countries of origin. Thus, when ordered to leave Japan, they are rejected re-admission to their countries of origin and forced to endure long-term detention. Once deportation orders are issued for having committed certain crimes, they lose the status of Long-Term Resident (which had been granted upon admission as Indochinese refugees) and are disqualified from a variety of social services. Inevitably, grave hardships are inflicted on them even if provisional release is granted.139 With the exception of those who are in Japan on the Orderly Departure Program, Indo-Chinese refugees may not obtain passports from their countries of origin. In 137 Lee, supra note 117. Interviews with the Immigration Bureau of the Ministry of Justice conducted on April 30, 2009. In addition, the first applicant who was determined to be a refugee at the appeal level in December 1995 was a stateless Palestinian. It might not have been recognized that this individual was defined as “stateless�� as relevant to the foreign registration administrative procedure. 139 Deportable Indo-Chinese refugees used to be granted special resident permit for reasons related to their flight. Around 2002, however, there was an apparent change in immigration policy whereby cases have come to occur where Indo-Chinese refugees without permanent resident status, who were sentenced to imprisonment for a period of not less than 1 year or convicted for violation of a provision of the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Control Act, etc. were subjected to a removal order, resulting in long-term detention. Thus, mainly paroled Vietnamese refugees organized a group called “Betonamu kazoku kai”(Association of Vietnamese Families) in June 2005, to seek stabilization of their resident status. http://www.rafiq.jp/nanmin/Vietnam.html. 138 51