Stateless Children Research Articles

International Surrogacy and Stateless Children

This article examines statelessness resulting from international surrogacy arrangements by exploring whether there is protection afforded under international law and the overall consequences of statelessness for surrogate-born children. The aim of this contribution is to shed light on the statelessness problem in view of recent developments in the field. In particular, for an updated and holistic approach to surrogacy and statelessness, this contribution advocates for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (UNCRC) to be read in conjunction with the recently established Verona Principles. These Principles are specifically designed for international surrogacy, able to complement the existing UN protection, and it is argued that a combined reading of the UNCRC and the Verona Principles provides stronger protection of children’s rights. In addition, this contribution aspires to bridge the gap between legal and other consequences of statelessness, with the latter often overlooked in the context of surrogate-born children. To explore the above, this article first addresses the phenomenon of statelessness for children born through international surrogacy via an examination of conflicting laws and international surrogacy cases. The article then discusses how this state of affairs infringes the rights of the surrogate-born children, and in particular the right to acquire a nationality (Article 7 UNCRC). It is also submitted that, for surrogacy, Article 7 UNCRC should be read in conjunction with the recently established Verona Principles for a more holistic protection. Finally, this article examines the harmful effects that result from the surrogate-born children’s statelessness, advocating for a more comprehensive approach that goes beyond the strictly legal consequences of statelessness. Keywords: surrogacy; statelessness; UNCRC; nationality; citizenship; cross-border assisted reproduction.

The Stateless Legal Clinic: Innovative Models for Addressing Unmet Legal Need in Australia through Clinical Legal Education

The Stateless Legal Clinic is a unique service providing legal education and aid to eligible stateless children in their application for Australian citizenship. It also provides law students at the University of Melbourne with the opportunity to gain practical legal experience and engage in experiential learning, through a clinical legal education elective subject offered within the Juris Doctor (JD) degree. The Stateless Legal Clinic aims to address a critical gap in legal services for stateless children in Australia and situates clinical legal education within the relatively new and emerging discipline of ‘statelessness studies.’ Through an examination of Australia's legal framework for addressing the global human rights issue of statelessness, this article examines the design and operation of the Stateless Legal Clinic, arguing that clinical legal education can provide innovative models for increasing access to justice for communities often overlooked or under-serviced by the legal industry.

Construction of Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence in Stateless Children: Scoping Literature Review

Statelessness, defined as the lack of citizenship, is a complex issue governed by international law. Factors contributing to statelessness include gaps in nationality, political policies, and individuals moving to countries at birth.. Stateless status can affect individuals of all ages, and children born to stateless parents are particularly vulnerable. This article explores the impact of self-confidence and self-esteem on the future preferences of stateless children. While international human rights instruments recognize basic rights for all, regardless of citizenship, many countries link citizenship to the full enjoyment of rights. Research methods employed a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to gather insights from previous studies. The results and discussion section highlights the negative impact of statelessness on self-esteem and self-confidence, with stateless individuals often feeling invisible and undervalued. The lack of citizenship not only undermines political and legal status but also tests the limits of self-confidence and self-esteem. The article also discusses the challenges faced by stateless children, such as legal instability, discrimination, limited access to services, identity uncertainty, violence, and exploitation. It emphasizes the importance of addressing these challenges to protect the rights of stateless children, promote their self-confidence, and enable their holistic development. The article underscores the need for legal recognition, emotional support, education, legal protection, psychological education, and involvement in positive activities to enhance the self-confidence of stateless children.

Understanding Migrant School-Aged Children’s Education in Public Schools Thailand: Teachers’ Perspectives and Classroom Narratives

Despite Thailand’s popularity as a destination for migrant laborers from neighboring Southeast Asian countries, little research has been conducted on the education of migrant school-aged children in Thailand’s public schools. However, knowledge in this area is important for improving Thailand’s education policy and curriculum for migrant children and addressing issues related to Thailand’s migrant education. As a response, framed by a phenomenological approach, this study conducted classroom teaching observations and interviews with Thai public-school teachers in the provinces, which are well-known for their large migrant populations. Presented in classroom narratives and teachers’ perspectives individually, the findings revealed teachers’ intentional misperceptions of ethnicity, pedagogical strategies to integrate migrant children into classrooms with Thai students, barriers that teachers must overcome to aid the educational advancement of migrant children, and non-governmental organizations’ support for teacher training (NGOs). Since Thailand has implemented a policy allowing migrant and stateless children to freely enroll in public schools, this study calls for the implementation of non-discriminatory, integrative efforts at the school level, beginning with the provision of training for teachers on multilingual education and ending with the enhancement of school participation in the integration of migrant children into the educational environment.

Legal and Social Issues of Stateless Children in Malaysia

Malaysia does not have official records on the number of stateless people in the country. This lack of proactivity makes it challenging to identify the number of stateless people from the country’s population of ‘non-citizens’. For many stateless children, they are the products of this endless cycle of statelessness that transmits from one generation to the next especially when attempts to obtain a Malaysian citizenship from the National Registration Department fall futile. Though statelessness remains their only identity, it has also robbed them of State protection over the most fundamental human rights. This paper seeks to address the legal and social issues faced by stateless children in Malaysia. It begins by exploring the legal definition of a stateless child and the international minimum standard of protection that they are entitled to. The second part of the paper will then analyse the current Malaysian legal framework on statelessness, and how it fails to provide adequate protection for stateless children. This is followed by proposing potential solutions to the issue, such as amending the relevant laws and introducing awareness campaigns. Finally, the paper will conclude by outlining the importance of addressing statelessness in Malaysia and how this will benefit the stateless population.

International Surrogacy and Stateless Children: Article 7 UNCRC and the Harmful Effects of Statelessness

International Surrogacy and Stateless Children: Article 7 UNCRC and the Harmful Effects of Statelessness

THE PROTECTION OF STATELESS CHILDREN UNDER THE INSTRUMENTS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

Having a clear citizenship status facilitates children in leading their lives and asserting their rights, such as gaining access to education, healthcare, engaging in political activities, and even starting families. However, Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, located in the Netherlands, estimates that every 10 (ten) minutes, a child is born without nationality in a country in this world. Stateless children face various different challenges. Statelessness hinders their ability to realize their potential and can have adverse effects on social cohesion and stability. In some cases, it can even lead to social tensions and displacement. The researchers used a normative research method in conducting this study. Additionally, the data analysis technique applied is qualitative descriptive, which portrays phenomena and findings related to stateless children, their causes, and their protection within international instruments. In other words, this research shows how the protection of stateless children is viewed from the perspective of international law.

Why is Commercial Surrogacy Banned Worldwide? A Complete Review

Commercial surrogacy mainly occurs in underdeveloped nations, and when local women carry children for affluent foreigners, commercial surrogacy is a controversial issue in feminist literature. Surrogacy is a contentious topic, primarily when prominent celebrities have utilized it. Particular surrogate moms experience complications by assisted reproduction techniques; Ectopic pregnancy, ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, and psychological stress are the primary ones. It benefits couples unable to conceive normally but may also be exploited for profit. In December 2018, the Indian Government approved surrogacy legislation that modified the previous regulations. Specifically, it outlaws commercial surrogacy and restricts the eligibility of Europeans to seek surrogacy in India. The companies that organized surrogacy for foreigners have suffered a severe hit. This law's passage was primarily motivated by the discriminatory practices of surrogacy providers. They often did not receive the money the expecting parents paid to the company, and their living conditions were poor. Commercial surrogacy is permitted in various nations, such as the United States of America, Russia, Poland, and many others. Surrogacy is banned in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iceland, Italy, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, France, and Germany. In these countries, surrogacy is mainly banned due to religious beliefs, i:e, Islam does not allow this practice, which is unethical. It is unclear what the acceptable reimbursement for surrogacy is in other nations where any surrogacy is considered banned. Both commercial and altruistic surrogacy have unethical consequences, and several nations disagree and have banned it. These moral disadvantages are even worse by cross-border commercial surrogacy. Their many objections against commercial surrogacy are addressed, along with the justifications for why it is banned in many countries. Examples include the commercialization and exploitation of surrogates, reproductive capabilities, health risks, unfair marketing, a lack of legal protection for surrogate mothers, ethical and legal issues, and the issue of stateless children. Despite the possibility of commercialization and exploitation, we suggest that these issues are not exclusive to surrogacy and instead need to be seen from the larger perspective of an unequal civilization. Furthermore, some of these arguments lack an understanding of actual experiences or are based on metaphor. Surrogates need to be compensated well, and rules should be in place. Commercial surrogacy is a complicated topic that is impacted by various variables, such as high infertility treatment costs, the accessibility of international travel, and especially the economic fragility of Indian SMs and their families. There are issues surrounding the surrogate mother's decision making process, especially concerning gender disparities, power imbalances, and a lack of proper legal support for surrogate mothers. To fully comprehend commercial surrogacy, further study is required, mainly research considering the perspectives of Indian women and families participating in these arrangements.

Questioning Government Public Policies toward Indonesian Stateless Children in Malaysia

Millions of stateless statuses existed around the world, half of them are scattered in Asia expanding across several regions. The status and situation of the Indonesian stateless are so complex and to construe this situation causing the government to strengthen policies in protecting their rights is questioned. The purpose of this article is to observe how effective the implementation of Indonesian policies in protecting Indonesian stateless children who currently spread in several regions of Malaysia. The research was conducted in qualitative method approach on several legal and human rights provision added with field interviews, data collections and observations. As the issue is considered essentially for both Malaysian and Indonesia Governments and conditions surrounding the topic have complex multifaceted problems, struggles of law and political effort in line with economy and social hindrances that continually hinge around should be enforced. The result shows that more implications on the protection of rights for stateless children need to be persistently strengthened by using existing various conventions and governmental regulations. Also, social economic and political conditions in Indonesia and Malaysia are different making soluble alternative that fit countries needs is not tranquil to have.

Barriers and facilitators to education access for marginalised non-citizen children in Malaysia: A qualitative study.

In Malaysia, marginalised non-citizen children are excluded from formal education at public schools. Recognising education as a fundamental human right, the barriers and facilitators to educational access among refugee and asylum-seeker, migrant, stateless and undocumented children in Malaysia were explored. Qualitative data were collected via 32 in-depth interviews with multiple stakeholders. Data were thematically analysed and organised at three socio-ecological levels. At the 'legislative and policy' level, the requirement of citizenship documents only allows some stateless children to access public schools. Yet, many informal learning centres are not state-endorsed, as they are unable to fulfil licensing criteria. Importantly, denying the right to work for adult refugees and other undocumented people demotivates the pursuit of education among children. At the 'individual and family' level, financial constraints constitute a major reason for school dropouts, especially through expectations on boys to work. Cultural norms partly contribute to the lower enrolment of Rohingya refugee girls in secondary education, but gender parity is maintained for most in primary education. Another factor is proximity to learning centres, which links to safety concerns and transportation costs. Those who accessed public schools reported bullying by local children, which parallels institutional discrimination against marginalised non-citizens. At the 'community and educational institutions' level, inadequate funding for learning centres limits their ability to invest in physical facilities, teachers' salaries and others. Despite difficult operating conditions, learning centres address diverse school readiness, educational backgrounds, and language competencies among students by having sensitised teachers, placement tests and preparatory classes at school entry, and options for vocational training. We propose the gradual inclusion of all children in public schools and the immediate state recognition and support of learning centres. Correspondingly, realising the 'Right to Work' for refugees and stateless peoples will be synergistic in advancing universal education access for all children.

Saving the Children: Humanitarianism, Internationalism, and Empire by Emily Baughan

<i>Saving the Children: Humanitarianism, Internationalism, and Empire</i> by Emily Baughan

The Effectiveness of Menstrual Education Module for Children and Adolescent Refugees: A Pilot Study

Objectives: Females across low- to middle-income countries have limited knowledge and understanding about menstruation prior to reaching menarche. One of the marginalised populations prone to this challenge is the female refugees in Malaysia. The objective of this pilot study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a menstrual health module developed for children and adolescent refugees. Methods: This is a pilot intervention study among children and adolescents aged 9 to 17 years old attending a school for refugees and stateless children located in Selayang, Selangor. A menstrual health module was developed containing basic knowledge on reproductive organs, changes during menstruation, menstruation cycle, and menstrual hygiene management. Activities were carried out during this program to engage the participants. A set of 20 quiz questions were given, pre- and post-intervention. Scores from the quiz were compared using paired T-test to evaluate the effectiveness of the module. Results: A total of 11 children participated in the program (mean age: 12.8 + 1.3 years). All of the participants are Muslims and the majority of them are Myanmar refugees (n=10, 90.9%). The majority stayed with their parents (n=9, 81.8%). About half of the participants have fathers who are without any education (n=6, 54.5%), while most of the fathers were working full time (n=9, 81.8%). The majority of the participants had a monthly household income of less than RM2500 (n=10, 90.9%). The post-intervention mean score for the quiz questions was significantly higher than the pre-intervention mean score (15.9 + 2.3 and 6.3 + 4.9 for post- and pre-intervention, respectively) (p&lt;0.001). Conclusion: The menstrual education module was shown to be effective in increasing the knowledge of menstruation and menstrual hygiene among children and adolescent refugees. Rooms for improvements were identified for further revision of the menstrual health module.International Journal of Human and Health Sciences Supplementary Issue: 2023 Page: S19

Stateless Issue in Semporna, Sabah: Impact on the Stateless Children’s Education (Sea Gypsies)

The study examines the impact of the stateless issue on the education of Bajau Laut children in Semporna, Sabah by focusing its analysis on the status and origin of the stateless people, the impact of statelessness on the education of the Bajau Laut children, and the efforts taken in resolving the issue of the education for the stateless Bajau Laut in Semporna. By using a qualitative method which is case study through in-depth interviews and document analysis as instruments in collecting data, this study finds that the status as stateless have greatly limited their access to basic human rights such as education. The effects of lack of access to education have left these Bajau Laut children illiterate, involve in social problems, exploited in economy, and further backward in social life. There are various efforts made by the non-governmental bodies to provide education to the stateless children such as setting up 'Alternative Schools' and 'Sunday Schools'. However, the failure of the government to resolve the issue of citizenship has resulted these stateless children to continue to drop out from the access to education.

PENDIDIKAN DAN JARINGAN SOSIAL KANAK-KANAK TIADA KEWARGANEGARAAN DI SEKOLAH KEBANGSAAN PULAU MABUL, SEMPORNA SABAH

Nowdays, education of stateless children in government schools not stranger to Malaysia because of the Reject Zero Policy that was introduced by the Malaysian Ministry of Education in 2018. To see how stateless children are educated in government schools, this article uses social networks as analysis unit to see how the social network that occurs in the inclusion of children without citizenship in national education, especially at Sekolah Kebangsaan Pulau Mabul, Semporna. This study uses a qualitative approach by providing in-depth interview as a research method for data collection at the end of January, 2022 until the beginning of April, 2022. The results of this study found that the social network that occurs in the entry of stateless childrenin in national school is relationshps between individual with organization. This is because parents who represent stateless children manage their child's admission to the national schools by meeting and through the teachers at Sekolah Kebangsaan Pulau Mabul including the principal, the Semporna District Education Office, the Sabah State Education Department and the head village of Pulau Mabul. The social network that exists through the organization is very helpful for stateless parents to facilitate the management of their child's entry into national education. Therefore, this article will discuss how social networks occur in the admission of stateless children in national schools.

KURIKULUM DI PUSAT PEMBELAJARAN ALTERNATIF: KAJIAN KES DI PULAU MABUL SABAH

Education is an individual right that must be fulfilled and given to every individual. However, the provision of education in a country depends on the laws in that country. In Malaysia, the provision of education is based on the 1996 education act which emphasizes the right to education for those who have identity documents with citizenship status only. Therefore, the existence of other education besides national education, which is alternative education. This study wants to know the curriculum of alternative learning centers available on Mabul Island. The research methodology used is a qualitative approach with interview and observation methods used in this study. The location of this study is Mabul Island, Semporna. The results of the study found that there are five alternative learning centers on Mabul Island with founders consisting of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), private individuals and the local community. The curriculum at this learning center uses national curriculum subjects but the syllabus for the subjects is not provided by the government but is provided by the teaching staff themselves. The goal of establishing this alternative learning center itself is to provide education at the basic level only, which is the knowledge of reading, writing and counting (3M). However, they still use educational references available in Malaysia. Next, the teaching and learning schedule is carried out from Monday to Sunday where Monday to Thursday is the normal learning center and Friday to Sunday is madrasah time which starts from 7.00 am until 11.00 am for the morning session and for the afternoon session will start at 1.00 pm until at 4.30 pm. Alternative education has provided opportunities and opportunities to get an education and improve life in the future. Therefore, the accuracy of the curriculum implemented in the alternative learning center will affect the success of the educational program implemented on Mabul Island. Self-skills are very important in terms of survival in the context of stateless children and can ultimately help these children survive with their skills.

A Legal Analysis of Stateless Children and Their Rights to Education in Malaysia: A Comparative Study with Thailand

Statelessness has been a substantial issue around the globe, including Malaysia, yet the rights to education for the stateless is often overlooked. The discussion on the stateless rights to nationality remains endless, and the possibility for them to possess such rights in the near future is fairly low. Thus, this research seeks to find ways to ensure stateless children can still have access to education regardless of their inability to acquire citizenship. In that regard, this paper further analyses the laws and policies governing stateless children's rights to education in Malaysia and Thailand and propose amendments. This research found that undocumented children in Malaysia are allowed to enrol in public schools under the Professional Circular 2009 and the Zero Reject Policy 2019 which is still enforced. Nevertheless, such policies are still inadequate compared to the 2005 Cabinet Resolution Policy in Thailand. Through the doctrinal research on Malaysian, Thai and international laws, this paper found that the laws in Malaysia are not sufficient to ensure the rights to education of stateless children is protected and it is suggested that the Malaysian government should amend the existing laws and policies to resolve the issue.

FRAMING THE STATELESS CHILDREN IN SABAH: AN EXAMINATION THROUGH CORPUS ANALYSIS

In 2018, after winning the Malaysian general elections, Pakatan Harapan (PH) offered a promise to address the issue of statelessness. To better understand the premise of this promise, this study analysed the framing of stateless children in Sabah by conducting a corpus analysis of news articles published online in 2019. Specifically, the researchers created a corpus of 80 news articles from local and regional news portals that provided free access to their news items. The corpus was analysed using AntConc, and five keywords were identified based on their keyness level, which was determined through a comparison with the top 5,000 words from the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). The keywords served as frames, and they were further conceptualised through their collocates. Through the analysis of the frames and their characterisation, stateless children were portrayed as having restrictive access to education and healthcare, and without the possibility of being legally adopted. Furthermore, while help has been rendered by different agencies or key individuals, this has been done based on the grounds of morality that aim to spur charitable actions, but without offering any impactful legal solutions. Another valuable finding from this study was that all the news portals analysed shared the same sentiment against the stateless children, similar to that held by PH. Not only do the findings of this study provide a comprehensive view through the analysis of various news portals, it also offers evidence explaining why the stateless population and children in Sabah have been perpetually stuck in statelessness.

Customary International Law Requiring States to Grant Nationality to Stateless Children Born in Their Territory

In the most recent few years, state practice and opinio juris are increasingly converging to affirm that states must grant nationality to children born in their territory if they would otherwise be stateless. In prior scholarship, this author has argued that there is a customary international law norm requiring states to grant nationality in such cases. Certainly, UNHCR’s #IBelong campaign is a significant part of this development, placing statelessness back on the international agenda, as well as encouraging states to adhere to the statelessness conventions, adopt birth registration and statelessness determination procedures and revise domestic law. Partly due to this campaign, states are increasingly adopting practice and domestic law that provides for nationality from birth for stateless children but are also increasingly stating their opinion that such an approach is desirable, necessary and morally compelling. In fact, it is effectively impossible to identify any state that claims it has the unfettered right to refuse to grant nationality to a stateless child born in its territory. This article will complete a brief survey of recent practice and expressions of opinion, mostly as documented by UNHCR as a part of the #IBelong Campaign to End Statelessness, to confirm that this norm continues to strengthen under customary international law.

A Teleological and Child-Sensitive Interpretation of a Country of Former Habitual Residence for Stateless Children Born Outside Their Parents’ Country of Nationality or Former Habitual Residence

The notion of a country of former habitual residence — as the functional equivalent of a country of nationality for stateless individuals and the reference point for the ‘being persecuted’ inquiry in art 1A(2) of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees — is an ill fit for stateless children born outside the country of nationality or former habitual residence of their parent(s). On a plain, ordinary reading of the definition, stateless children born in the country of refuge have neither a nationality nor a former habitual residence and fall outside the ambit of the refugee definition. In a similar fashion, stateless children born prior to arrival in the country of refuge (but not in the country of nationality or designated country of former habitual residence of their parent(s)) are unable to establish the country of reference element, as read with all other indicia of refugeehood. In the context of concurrent family claims, this predicament exposes an obvious inequity of access to refugee status and a consequent risk of refoulement to serious harm, as such children may face return to the country of nationality or former habitual residence of their parent(s). While the dominant tide of jurisprudence supports a literal interpretation of the notion, Michelle Foster and Hélène Lambert have identified a purposive pathway, better aligned with the humanitarian scope of the refugee definition. For such applicants, this interpretation allows for the determination of country of reference in combination with forward-looking considerations on their returnability and risk of persecution upon return. This article endorses such an interpretation and comprehensively charts a child-sensitive approach to applying the criteria for refugee status (historically formulated from an adult-oriented perspective), by exploring what child-specific interests might better inform the notion in the context of the individualised refugee assessment of concurrent family claims.

Deportable to Nowhere: Stateless Children as Challenges to State Logics of Immigration Control

Abstract This study draws on ethnographic fieldwork with undocumented and stateless families in Sabah, Malaysia to examine how deportability shapes children's relationships with the Malaysian state. By centering the perspectives of children and their families, the author argues that the figure of the stateless child challenges state logics of immigration control in two ways. First, born in Malaysia but without proper identity documentation or legal status from any nation, stateless youth in the study were “deportable to nowhere.” Second, Malaysian immigration control inadvertently transforms stateless children into the very “illegal” migrants that the government seeks to deter: for some, expulsion to their ancestral country and eventual illicit return to Malaysia marked the first times they had crossed an international border. The article concludes by discussing the implications of stateless children for the nation-state system's organizational principles more broadly.