INTERNATIONAL LEGISLATION ADDRESSING STATELESSNESS. There are two International Conventions on Statelessness12. A stateless person refers to a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law.13 To be stateless is therefore is to be without nationality or citizenship either; De jure which means by operation of law or Defacto where a person formally possesses a nationality but is unable, for valid reasons, to avail themselves of the protection of the State. In other words, their nationality is not effective. THE 1954 CONVENTION RELATING TO THE STATUS OF STATELESS PERSONS. This Convention sought to regulate and improve the status of stateless persons and to ensure that stateless persons enjoy the widest possible exercise of their human rights. It covers the definition of stateless persons, ensures that stateless persons enjoy the widest possible exercise of their rights, prescribes basic standards of treatment for stateless persons, guarantees stateless persons access to the protection of the State they find themselves in, provides a framework to identify stateless persons, promotes recognition of the international legal status of “stateless persons” and the common international framework for protection and also gives the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees the mandate to mobilize international support for the protection of stateless persons. 12 See 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 13 See Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3079430