Population figures
Total country population
11,478
Forcibly displaced population
Refugees (under UNHCR's mandate):
0
Asylum-seekers:
0
IDPs (of concern to UNHCR):
0
Other people in need of international protection:
0
Other
Statelessness persons
0
Host community
0
Others of concern to UNHCR
0
Country context
Tuvalu is an archipelagic state in the South Pacific Ocean, situated roughly midway between Hawaii and Australia, comprising nine inhabited islands and a number of smaller islets. Refugee applications are processed under UNHCR’s mandate and reside within host communities on the main islands—primarily Funafuti—without the establishment of dedicated camps or settlements, accessing housing and essential services under prevailing civil-residency provisions pending status determination.
The State acceded to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol in 2012, and to the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness in 2013 . These accessions establish binding international obligations, yet no domestic statute has been enacted to implement formal procedures for refugee-status determination, statelessness status determination or appeal.
...Statelessness is similarly unaddressed through domestic legislation. No legal mechanism exists to identify or determine stateless status; individuals lacking nationality are managed under general immigration rules and may receive temporary residence documentation without specific procedural guarantees or avenues for appeal. During its most recent Universal Periodic Review, Tuvalu noted recommendations to enhance birth registration systems and to consider establishing a domestic statelessness determination procedure.
Engagement in regional protection dialogues has included participation in Pacific Immigration Directors’ Conferences and consultations under the Pacific Islands Forum, where Tuvalu has engaged in discussions on mixed-migration movements and climate-related displacement.
Show moreRights Categories
Sources: UNHCR Refugee Data finder https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/ | 2023 year end figures. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2022). World Population Prospects 2022, Online Edition https://population.un.org/wpp/Download/Standard/Population/ | Mid-year 2024 population estimates