The government must provide clear measures to assure that a child`s birth can be registered without the repercussions that undocumented immigrants fear when in contact with the authorities. Thirdly, detention based on a deportation order should be suspended for those refused by a designated country. When released, they should eventually be given a stable legal status, rather than being left in limbo. These individuals are usually de jure stateless or de facto stateless and the UNHCR can come to their aid in mediating cooperation between Japan and the country of prior residence. Their situation can only be solved through confirmation or acquisition of an effective nationality. The statistical data produced by the Ministry of Justice reveals that the Japanese government has removed stateless persons pursuant to a deportation order. However, no information is available regarding the countries to which these persons were deported. It is not clear whether the government takes into consideration situations they would face in the receiving countries. The removing country’s concern with immediate enforcement of should not be unconditionally prioritized. The government should ensure that stateless persons are only removed to countries where they will have a secure legal status, including lawful residence. The official data regarding detention under the Immigration and Refugee Recognition Act of stateless persons including the number, age, gender and length of detention should be made public as well as the country to which stateless persons were removed. Fourthly, effective administrative measures should be enacted so that those who seek to obtain or confirm Japanese nationality (such as Indo-Chinese refugees and war-separated Japanese nationals left in the Philippines), who are in a state of de facto or de jure statelessness, may smoothly follow the required procedures to obtain such status. Furthermore, an arrangement should be made to provide necessary legal advice to those who are faced with problems of statelessness. The uncertainty surrounding the nationality of recognized refugees and their offspring (such as the Rohingyas) should be adequately addressed to prevent them from falling into the quagmire of statelessness. The government should also ensure that directions are provided to relevant departments in order to prevent the creation of statelessness by inadvertent administrative operations. The Nationality Act makes some explicit references to the conferral of citizenship on stateless persons. Article 8(4) of the Nationality Act provides for relaxation of the 61

Select target paragraph3