The SEAP website has been curated upon four years of research undertaken by NFA focused specifically on statelessness in Asia Pacific. The data for this website has primarily been taken from the Statelessness Encyclopedia Asia Pacific (SEAP) Report, which covers all 5 subregions of Asia Pacific namely, Central Asia, East Asia, the Pacific, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. The report also includes a detailed analysis of 45 countries in Asia Pacific on four elements: Laws, Population, Causes of Statelessness, and Stakeholders.
The website has been created with the aim of knowledge creation in Asia Pacific, and includes not just information analysing law and practice in Asia Pacific, but also includes all submissions to UN bodies undertaken by NFA to date, provides links to relevant news sources, and has a database of 67 stakeholders. It offers not only a repository of data but also functions as a hub for fostering collaboration and advocacy efforts. It provides a platform for stakeholders, including NGOs, policymakers, academics, and impacted communities, to connect, share insights, and mobilize collective action towards addressing the root causes of statelessness and advancing the rights and protection of stateless individuals in the region.
The SEAP website is designed to be user-friendly and intuitive, with navigational features that facilitate easy exploration and retrieval of information. Users can navigate seamlessly between different sections of the website, accessing relevant reports, datasets, and resources with ease. The website shall be updated biannually, to have the most up-to-date information that reflects the latest developments in the region.
The idea of a resource specific to Asia Pacific has been inspired by the Statelessness Index, created by European Network on Statelessness, which is a database that looks into European countries’ law, policy, and practice on the protection of stateless people and the prevention and reduction of statelessness, against international norms and good practice.
What is the need of a regional database?
The necessity for a regional database becomes evident when considering the significant lack of reliable data and statistics on statelessness within the Asia Pacific region. While undertaking research, we realised that while Asia Pacific hosts the largest population of stateless individuals in the world, the subsequent lack of reliable data and statistics noticed throughout the region are staggering. The information included in this database has undergone rigorous fact-checking, either through available sources or consultation with regional stakeholders, ensuring its reliability.
As the sole regional organization dedicated to addressing statelessness in the Asia-Pacific, our aim is to further invest in knowledge-building initiatives through the creation of this database. Named the Statelessness in the Asia-Pacific (SEAP) database, it is intended to serve as a foundational resource for stakeholders across the region. By providing a centralized platform for information and research, we aspire to facilitate collaborative efforts and empower other stakeholders to utilize this resource in their endeavors to address statelessness within the region.
FEATURES OF SEAP:
The website offers many features:
i) Users have the option to delve into the comprehensive report, inclusive of all sourced materials utilized in compiling the website’s information.
ii) Each country has been segregated into its respective sub-region. The website offers country-wide multidisciplinary analysis of statelessness, drawing on laws (both domestic and international), impacted population in the country, causes of statelessness, and stakeholders of each country.
iii) One can also use the website to use the “Compare Countries” tab, which offers a comparative analysis of any country with the other. This comparison can also be done on the relevant laws, or population or the relevant causes of statelessness.
iv) A regional analysis of the entire Asia Pacific region is also available, enabling users to explore overarching trends and insights based on the aforementioned elements.
v) Additionally, users can access a repository of all submissions made by NFA to UN bodies, providing a comprehensive overview of advocacy efforts and engagements on statelessness-related issues.
HOW TO USE SEAP:
The website is extremely user-friendly, and all data can be accessed through the home page.
i) All information, whether regional, sub-regional, all country reports, has been divided into the following categories:
- Laws
- Data
- Population
- Stakeholders
ii) The user can make use of the top left corner to access Regional Overview or gloss over any of five sub-regions.
iii) The website then lists down country names with their respective flags, categorised according to sub-region, all of which has been divided into the four categories as mentioned above.
iv) Scrolling below on the home page, also gives the user the opportunity to compare countries. Any two countries can be compared, on the basis of population or treaties ratified, for instance. There are visual tables and interactive charts for clear dissemination of information.
v) In case of any questions in terms of terminology, we have a dedicated “glossary page”, which provides meanings of definitions which have been used throughout the report and the website.
vi) The homepage also provides hyperlinks to each stakeholder in the region, whereupon clicking the name or the logo of the said stakeholder, takes you directly to their website.
vi) At the bottom of the page, one can access latest news reports on statelessness as well as all submissions to UN bodies made by NFA over the years, which can also be perused either through the “Quick Links” Section or through the “view all” under their section on the home page.