appropriate standards of treatment under the Convention.”29 The obligation to identify statelessness is also inherently related to other international human rights. When particular rights, such as the liberty and security of the person are engaged the identification of stateless persons is of juridical relevance. Without accurate identification of stateless persons there is moreover a lack of insight into the extent of statelessness and a lack of ability to monitor their status and treatment. 24. Plans exist to introduce a statelessness determination procedure (SDP), the legislation for which is expected to be tabled in Parliament towards the end of 2016.30 The co-submitting organisations welcome this development but remain engaged to ensure that the new procedure is compliant with the international obligations of the Netherlands. In this regard, the likelihood that statelessness determination will not automatically result in the granting of residence status is a significant concern, as access to all social services and general participation in society is linked to lawful stay. In fact, the Netherlands would be the first country to deviate from a good practice established by all States that implemented SDPs before it, namely to grant legal residence upon determination of statelessness.31 With the notable exception of the right to obtain an identity document under Article 27 of the 1954 Convention. By not linking determination with legal residence the proposed SDP runs the risk of becoming an empty gesture. 25. Until the new procedure is introduced, there are two ways in which stateless persons and those at risk of statelessness may be identified. Firstly, through the registration of individuals in the Basic Registration of Persons Database (BRP). However, this does not constitute a proper determination of statelessness. Registration in the BRP as a stateless person requires that the statelessness status of the person is already apparent and documented. The BRP thus registers the statelessness of those who can already prove this status, but does not determine statelessness. Moreover, only persons who are permitted to stay in the Netherlands can be registered in the BRP, while the 1954 Convention also enshrines rights to stateless persons who are not lawfully present in the country. Particularly children with no legal residence are often not registered in the BRP, because a document proving legal residency of the mother of the child seems to be a requirement for such registration.32 In the absence of recognition of their status, many rights enshrined in the Statelessness Conventions are in practice inaccessible, including their right to an identity or travel document. 33 26. The lack of a dedicated SDP furthermore results in potentially stateless persons recorded in the BRP as having an unknown nationality.34 Migrants without passports are generally recorded as such.35 This 29 UNHCR Statelessness Handbook, para 144. Letter of the State Secretary for Security and Justice and Minister for Immigration [Staatssecretaris van Veiligheid en Justitie] to the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer), Kamerstukken II 2013/14, 19637, no. 1889. Note that is again not a full-fledged legislative proposal, but it is a concrete plan to introduce a statelessness determination procedure as a reaction to one of the recommendations by the ACVZ. 31 European Network on Statelessness, Statelessness Determination and the Protection Status of Stateless Persons (2013), 36. 32 There appears to be an exception for children who are born on Dutch soil and have their birth registered at the municipality with them needing to be registered in the BRP after six months. See Decision BRP [Besluit BRP], Article 21. 33 Article 27 of the 1954 Convention compels State parties to “issue identity papers to any stateless person in their territory who does not possess a valid travel document”. Article 28 provides for the right to a travel document for stateless persons who reside in the territory legally. 34 ACVZ, No Country of One’s Own (The Hague: ACVZ, September 2014) 36. 35 Ibid. 37. 30