PH Statelessness Determination Procedure Lauded as #IBelong Campaign to End Statelessness “Best Practice”

From left: State Counsel Atty. Paulito de Jesus, State Counsel Melvin C. Suarez, Justice Assistant Secretary Adonis P. Sulit, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Atty Maria Ermina Valdeavilla-Gallardo, Department of Foreign Affairs-Office of the United Nations and Other Organizations Director Nina P. Cainglet, Association of Child Caring Agencies in the Philippines Vice President for External Affairs Marilyn F. Manuel, and Commission on Human Rights’ Reinna S. Bermudez from the (DFA photo)

MANILA 02 June 2019 — The Philippines’ statelessness determination procedure was lauded as a “best practice” of the #IBelong Campaign to End Statelessness by 2024 during the recent regional preparatory meeting for the 2019 High-Level Segment on Statelessness held in Bangkok, Thailand on 30-31 May 2019.

In his briefing on “Statelessness in the Region: Key Issues and Best Practices”, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Senior Regional Protection Officer (Statelessness) Jelvas Musau lauded the Philippines’ statelessness procedure, which establishes a fair, speedy and non-adversarial procedure to facilitate identification, treatment and protection of refugees and stateless persons consistent with the laws, international commitments and humanitarian traditions and concerns of the Philippines, particularly Department of Justice Circular No. 58, series of 2012 on Establishing the Refugee and Stateless Status Determination Procedure.

The Philippines was also especially cited as a best practice within the region for being the only country in the Asia and the Pacific region for having a National Action Plan to End Statelessness by 2024.

The meetings, which was attended by 112 participants from 16 States in the region, UN Agencies, national human rights commissions, NGOs, academia, members of communities affected by statelessness, and UNHCR staff, discussed achievements, shared good practices and raised awareness of statelessness. END