Philippines Launches Action Plan to End Statelessness
The Inter- Agency Committee that launched the National Action Plan to End Statelessness led by Chief State Counsel Ricardo Paras III, Assistant Chief Counsel Ruben Fondevilla of the Department of Justice.
13 December 2017 – The Philippine Government launched the country’s National Action Plan (NAP) to End Statelessness on November 24. The launch was attended by the DFA as part of the inter-agency forum which began consultations and drafting of the NAP to End Statelessness in February 2015.
A “stateless person” is someone who is not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law (1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons). There are at least 10 million people who are denied nationality around the world today, according to estimates by the UNCHCR.
The NAP to End Statelessness is a framework of seven (7) action points, which the Philippine Government has committed to implement until the year 2024. The action points are in line with the Global Action Plan to End Statelessness, which is part of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) 10-year campaign to end statelessness. The NAP Action Points are as follows: (1.) Resolve existing cases of statelessness; (2.) Ensure that no child is born stateless; (3.) Remove gender discrimination from nationality laws; (4.) Grant protection status and facilitate the naturalization of refugees and stateless persons; (5.) Ensure birth registration for the prevention of statelessness; (6.) Accede to the UN Statelessness Conventions; and (7.) Improve quantitative and qualitative data on stateless populations.
In 2012, PH established a statelessness status determination procedure on the identification, treatment, and protection of stateless persons in the Philippines.
In 2014, the Government of the Philippines, in partnership with the Government of Indonesia, with support from the UNHCR, carried out a joint program to map out and resolve citizenship issues of thousands of Persons of Indonesian Descent or PIDs residing in the Philippines. As of November 2017, around 75% of the 8,745 PIDs have had their citizenship confirmed.
In his remarks at the launch of the NAP to End Statelessness, DOJ Chief State Counsel Ricardo Paras III said that “statelessness is a basic human rights issue,” underscoring that “statelessness” deprives individuals of nationality, which enables them to exercise their basic rights.
“Without nationality, stateless persons are divested of protection and access to education, housing, employment, and other rights necessary for the survival of an individual,” said Chief Paras.
Mr. Yasser Saad, Head of National Office of UNHCR in the Philippines also lauded the Philippines’ cooperation with the UNHCR, particularly in the protection of refugees. According to Mr. Saad, the Philippines is the only country in Southeast Asia that has a functioning asylum system.” He stressed that efforts to end statelessness create a foundation for individuals’ development, adding that having a nationality is a basic condition for the achievement of human rights.
“The Philippines is taking a lead role in humanitarian and statelessness efforts,” he said. Mr. Saad underscored that these efforts are in line with the Philippines’ national development Plan (PDP 2017-2022) and long-term vision, “Ambisyon Natin 2040,” as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) -- all of which aim to “leave no one behind.”
Aside from the DFA and DOJ, the inter-agency forum is composed of various government agencies namely: Bureau of Immigration, Office of the Solicitor General, Public Attorney’s Office, House of Representatives, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Supreme Court-Philippine Judicial Academy, Commission of Filipinos Overseas, Council for the Welfare of Children, Commission on Human Rights, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, Philippine Statistics Authority, Presidential Human Rights Committee, National Security Council, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and National Commission on Muslim Filipinos.
The Philippines was one of the first countries to sign the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons in 1955 and the first Asian country to become a signatory to the Convention. END