Let’s find out aboutStateless People!

What Is ”Stateless”?
Stateless People = People without a Nationality
Those Who Are Not Considered Nationals by Any State
Stateless people -as the word itself already suggests- are people not recognized to be nationals of any state.
According to the UNHCR (UNHCR, ”Mid-Year Trends 2022”), as of 2020 there were 4.3 million people in theworld reported as stateless.
However, the actual number is estimated to be over 15 million. (ISI, “Statelessness in numbers: 2020” )※ For identification and data collection purposes, the UNHCR also includes “people with undeterminednationality” as “stateless” in their statistics. There are countries which issue identification cards whereby
the nationality is listed as undetermined.
According to the 1954 convention (see p. 3), “the term ‘stateless people’ means a person who is notconsidered as national by any State under the operation of its law”.

What is Nationality?
・a legal bond between a person and a state
・usually acquired at the time of birth, by either being bornin that country or inheriting the nationality of their parents
Whether a nationality is granted based on the place of birth or
the nationality of a parent depends on each country. There arealso countries considering both. One can also become anational of a country through naturalization.

Why Do People Become Stateless?
There are various reasons why people become
stateless.
Among those reasons are …
・contradictions and flaws in the nationality lawsand determination procedures, making themineligible for acquiring nationality in any country
・the disintegration of a state, or a change in theruling regime of the country
・discrimination against specific groups, based on
ethnicity, gender, religion, etc.

2Issues Regarding Stateless People in Japan

1. The Lack of Understanding About Stateless People
There are also stateless people living in Japan.
They face various forms of prejudice and discrimination
as their existence is not widely known.
According to official statistics, there are 487 people classified as statelessliving in Japan (Immigration Services Agency of Japan, Statistics for
Resident Foreigners as of June, 2022).
However, the true number is estimated to be much higher.

2.

Japan Has Not Ratified International Conventions
Relating to Stateless People

The United Nations has adopted the following two conventions relating to stateless people:
1. The Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons (1954)
2. The Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (1961)
However, Japan has not ratified either of these conventions.

3.

The Lack of a Statelessness Determination Procedure
and a System to Protect Them

While more and more countries have instituted statelessness
determination procedures, Japan has neither a procedure forthe determination of statelessness nor a law to protect
stateless people.
This has led to a situation where a significant number of people
are misidentified as having a nationality even though they do
not have one.

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Why Do People Become Stateless?

Case 1The Baby Left Behind in a Hospital
A woman, likely a foreigner, gave birth to a baby at a
hospital. Unfortunately, the mother disappeared after
giving birth.
The identity of the father was unknown.
As no one registered the baby’s birth, the baby did notreceive documentation proving its identity.
On top of that, the baby was born in a country where aperson’s nationality is determined by the nationality ofa parent (p.1). As a result, the baby became stateless.
※ There are many countries that specially grant
citizenship to such babies. But without such knowledge ofthe caretakers and help, the children remain stateless.

Case 2

Problems During the Process of
Naturalization

Ali, from country A, has been living in country B for a longtime. One day, he decided to apply for naturalization incountry B, which does not allow dual citizenship.
As he expected to acquire the citizenship of country B
soon, he underwent the procedure of dropping his
citizenship of country A and became stateless.
But, while Ali was waiting for his new citizenship, hecaused a traffic accident and was denied citizenshipbased on this record.
※ In this case, Ali can still try to get his former
citizenship back, but the success of it cannot bepromised.

Case 3Losing One’s Nationality Due to theCollapse of a StateMr. Ho belongs to a minority ethnic group withincountry C. After the war ended, country C collapsed,
and a new country was established in its place.
However, under the nationality laws of the new country,
members of Mr. Ho’s ethnic group were not considered
nationals of the country, thus making them stateless.
※ There are countries that encourage naturalization topeople like Mr. Ho, while some do not.

4What Kind of Issues Do Stateless People Face?
Many foreigners living in Japan are issued with a residence card.
There are those among the stateless whose nationality
displayed on their residence cards does not reflect reality.
In this way, there are various problems caused by the lack of aStatelessness determination procedure.
※ The residence card is a personal document issued by the
Ministry of Justice of Japan. It does not necessarily indicate theactual nationality of a person.

Cases from Japan
In Japan, the nationality of a child is determined by the nationality of the parent/s. Thus, government
services tend to assume that children possess the same nationality as their parents.
However, there are people who cannot acquire the nationality of their parent/s.

【Case 1. A personal document stated my nationality, but the truth was… 】
Fei came from country E to Japan when she was four years old. She grew up in Japan and is now 26 years old.

However, the embassy told
them that “your residencecard does indeed indicatethat you are from country E,
but you don’t have any
identity documents issued bycountry E, which means that
we cannot issue you with asingle status certificate.”

Fei had thought she was a national ofcountry E, but in fact her birth had neverbeen registered in country E.

For those ina similar
situation

She decided to marry a Japaneseman. In order to submit a marriage
certificate in Japan, Fei and her
fiancé went to the embassy ofcountry E to apply for a single status
certificate for Fei.

Even though her residencecard indicated that she
was a national of country E,
she had never been!
“Then what is mynationality?, she asks
herself. Fei realized that
she had been stateless thewhole time.

There are cases where alternative documents are accepted instead of the single certificate.
Sometimes, late birth registrations can be turned in as well.
So please do not give up, and ask for expert advice at the public office, embassy, or lawyer!

5Cases in Japan

CASES IN JAPAN【Case 2. Ordinary things that are difficult】
Kei’s mother comes fromcountry C.
She was brought to Japan by
a human trafficking
organization on a fakepassport.
She was making her living as adancer.

Later, she gave birth to a child from a
relationship with a Japanese man.
They never married and Kei’s father
never recognized Kei as his own child.
To add on, Kei’s mother never registered
Kei’s birth with country C or in Japan.

15 years later, after obtaining special permission
to reside from the Japanese government,
Kei enrolled in senior high school.
Kei’s high school takes students on school trips to Australia.
But Kei does not have a passport which is needed for oversea travels. Neither did he know about the re-entry
permit, and how to obtain it. The re-entry permit could have been used as a substitute for a passport.
But lacking this information, Kei was the only one not joining the trip.
Later, believing that there was no scholarship for stateless people, Kei even gave up going to university.。

“I’m stateless. There is no way I can do this.” Such thought made Kei suffer.
For those ina similar
situation

A minor can acquire a nationality by being recognized by a parent as his/her child at court.
Stateless people can go overseas by getting a re-entry permit andthere are many scholarships that stateless people can apply to.
Solutions can be found, so please look out for information as early as possible,
ask for advice, and do not give up!

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The Various Issues That Stateless People Face

The Case of Mr. Li…
When I was stateless, I faced various obstacles in my everyday life. For
example, once when I tried to open a bank account, there was a bank that
did not allow me to open an account with them because my identity
documents indicated I was “Stateless”. I also faced difficulties whentraveling overseas as I would have to apply for a visa and for permission toenter each country. This required a lot of documents and often prevented
me from traveling abroad. In fact, this issue prevented me from seeing mymother one last time before she died, which broke my heart.

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Towards a Solution
Suggestion １
There is currently no system in Japan for
determining if a person is stateless. This leads tocases where the nationality of a person is notcorrectly listed on identity documents. Solutions tostatelessness cannot be worked out without
identifying who is stateless.

Create a procedure to determine statelessness!

Suggestion ２
According to the Japanese nationality law, article 2,paragraph 3, children born in Japan whose parents
are either unknown or stateless are given Japanesenationality. While such a law designed to prevent
statelessness exists, it is only rarely applied as it is
not widely known.

Give me the nationality that is rightfully mine!

Suggestion ３
Ignorance and poor understanding aboutstateless people leads to various types of
discrimination. Regardless of whether a person
is in possession of a nationality of any country,
in this society, everyone should be respected asa person and have their right to life protected.

Find out about stateless people and protect their rights!
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Towards a World Beyond Nationality
Up to this point, we have introduced the various issues that stateless people face. But does being “stateless”
really lead to “unhappiness”? Moreover, do people really have to have a “nationality” at all?
On this page, we are going to introduce some people who have chosen to live as “stateless people”.

【The late Eugene Aksenoff】
The late Eugene Aksenoff, who had been the director of the International Clinic (Tokyo), became statelesswhen the State of Manchuria collapsed. In fact, he could have acquired a nationality but chose not to.
He once said:“I don’t want a nationality at all. The reason is this way I can be free. What I desire right now is to behealthy and to contribute to society as a doctor as long as possible, and I hope that one day the world
stops fighting and comes together as one.”
He didn’t charge a fee for foreign patients struggling with money who came to his clinic. As he defines being
stateless as being free from states. Perhaps he came to think this way after losing his “homeland” to war.

【Zhong Zhang】
Mr. Zhong Zhang is a stateless poet, whose ethnicity can be defined as Zainichi Korean (Resident Koreanliving in Japan). On the document that he possesses, his nationality is listed as “Chosen (Korea)”, but thisneither stands for “South Korea” or “North Korea”. It stands for the country that existed before the country
was split between North and South.
Currently, there is no country with the name “Chosen (Korea)”. Therefore, Mr. Zhong Zhang also falls under
the category of Stateless people. But after all these years in Japan, why has he never applied for Japanesenationality?
His response to this question is as follows:“Becoming a national of a country is a huge life decision. I wanted to become a national of a state thatmakes people happy. But when I looked around the world, there was no such state. That being the case, I
faced the question of what I should do as a stateless person, and I thought I should put my efforts into therealization of a state that makes me want to become a national of that country.”
Perhaps Mr. Zhong Zhang’s decision to live as one human being, in pursuit of a world where everyone ishappy, may be a sign to us all that there is something more important than nationalities.

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Towards a World Beyond Nationality【Final Thoughts】
Although being stateless, both Mr. Aksenoff and Mr. Zhong Zhang have legal immigration status, and havetheir own careers. Of course, as Stateless people they have faced inconveniences such as not having a
passport, meaning that special documents such as a re-entry permit (to Japan) had to be obtained whentraveling abroad. In addition, as not many people in Japan are aware of the existence of stateless people,
they have faced prejudice in society.
But what if there were a more appropriate system in place for stateless people? What if more people
knew about stateless people? Perhaps, it would eliminate the perception that Statelessness is an “issue
that should be eradicated” or “not exist”. It might allow a person the choice of living as a stateless person
according to their preference as a “natural person”. The words of Mr. Aksenoff and Mr. Zhong Zhang
present such a possibility.
The Stateless Network is working towards creating a society where people live in comfort, regardless ofwhether they have a nationality or not.

What you can do to help

n What you can do to help
1.

Become a member of “Stateless Network”• Regular Member:10,000yen/5,000yen (per year)• Supporting Member:2,000yen (per year)

2. Participate as a volunteer• Help as a translator, plan events, raise funds, be part of the team managing the organization, etc

3. Donate• We will use all donations for supporting stateless people

Account
Mitsui Sumitomo Bank, Totsuka branch (store number 791)
Account number 7279958, non-profit organization Stateless Network

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About us: the “Stateless Network”
The “Stateless Network” is an organization that supports stateless people.
It was founded in January 2009 to join with stateless people, taking seriously the troubles they face,
and to work towards creating a society where people would not face discrimination for not possessing anationality.

n Main Activities
1. Consultation Portal

We offer consultation for people who face problems relating to being stateless via E-mail and throughindividual meetings. Regarding legal matters we connect those requiring legal assistance with lawyers andadministrative scriveners who work in cooperation with the Stateless Network.
Email: SOUDAN@stateless-network.com

Procedures related to nationality can take months, and even years.
There is also a risk of being denied a nationality once one turns an adult.
So, please ask for help at the public office, embassy,
or an expert lawyer in this field as soon as possible.
2. Sharing information

We are advocating for a greater understanding regarding issues relating to statelessness inJapan and abroad by working together with other civil society organizations.

Interacting with stateless children from theSulu Passage region, providing material andeducational support

Children book readings to build
understanding among the younger
generations

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Specified Non-profit Organization Stateless Network Office
http://www.stateless-network.com

129 Yamashita-cho, Naka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa 231-0023, 4th floor, World Trade Building
Email: officer@stateless-network.com
SOUDAN@stateless-network.com”Let’s find out about Stateless People!”Issued on 25/05/2023
Published and edited by the Specified Non-profit Organization Stateless Network
In Cooperation with Stateless Network Youth