cooperation with UNHCR and non-governmental organisations, should raise awareness about and publicize the existence of statelessness determination procedures to enhance stateless persons’ access to these mechanisms. 8. Under its mandate for statelessness UNHCR can assist States which do not have the capacity or resources to put in place statelessness determination procedures, by conducting determinations itself if necessary and as a measure of last resort. It can also play an advisory role in developing or supporting State procedures. 9. The meeting emphasized one of the underlying principles of international refugee protection: In all circumstances, States must ensure that confidentiality requirements for applications by refugees who may also be stateless are upheld in a statelessness determination procedure. Thus any contact with the authorities of another country to inquire about the nationality status of an individual claiming to be stateless should only take place after any refugee claim has been rejected after proper examination (including the exhaustion of any legal remedies). Every applicant in a statelessness determination procedure should be informed at the outset of the right to raise refugee-related concerns ahead of any enquiries made with foreign authorities. Procedural safeguards 10. In order to ensure fairness and efficiency, statelessness determination procedures must ensure basic due process guarantees, including the right to an effective remedy where an application is rejected. States should facilitate to the extent possible access to legal aid for statelessness claims. Any administrative fees levied on statelessness applications should be reasonable and not act as a deterrent to stateless persons seeking protection. 11. Where an individual has an application pending in a statelessness determination procedure, any removal/deportation proceedings must be suspended until his or her application has been finally decided upon. Questions of proof 12. A determination should be made on the basis of all the available evidence. 13. The 1954 Convention requires proving a negative: establishing that an individual is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law. Because of the challenges individuals will often face in discharging this burden, including access to evidence and documentation, they should not bear sole responsibility for establishing the relevant facts. In statelessness determination procedures, the burden of proof should therefore be shared between the applicant and the authorities responsible for making the determination. It is incumbent on individuals to cooperate to establish relevant facts. If an individual can demonstrate, on the basis of all reasonably available evidence, that he or she is evidently not a national, then the burden should shift to the State to prove that the individual is a national of a State. 4