International Treaties Addressing Statelessness Stateless individuals, like refugees, were identified prior to World War II as persons lacking protection and in need of humanitarian assistance, but it was the tragedy of that conflict that spurred efforts to consolidate an international legal regime to specifically address their circumstances. In the immediate aftermath of the war, concerns about stateless individuals were seen as similar to and often overlapping with those regarding refugees. Given this perception, the drafters of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951 Refugee Convention)30 intended to address stateless persons in an accompanying protocol. Instead, when the 1951 Refugee Convention was adopted, the draft protocol on statelessness was referred to a separate negotiating conference and, rather than being a protocol to that Convention, ultimately became an independent treaty—the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (1954 Convention).31 The 1954 Convention establishes the universal definition of a stateless person and sets forth the criteria States must adopt to regulate and improve the legal status of stateless persons residing on their territory and to ensure non-discriminatory protection of their fundamental rights and freedoms. Many of its provisions are similar to those of the 1951 Refugee Convention, including the rights to non-discrimination,32 religious freedom,33 employment,34 welfare,35 freedom of movement,36 travel and identity documents,37 and an obligation to “facilitate…assimilation and naturalization”.38 Significantly, the 1954 Convention prohibits expulsion of stateless per- Solutions for the Stateless in the U.S. sons “save on grounds of national security or public order”.39 The 1954 Convention was primarily intended to recognize and address the particular plight of stateless persons who are not refugees to ensure they have access to lawful status and secure their enjoyment of basic human rights.40 In 1961, the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (1961 Convention)41 was adopted to reduce statelessness over time by elaborating clear, detailed, and concrete safeguards to prevent statelessness among children; due to loss, renunciation, or deprivation of nationality; and in the context of State succession.42 The 1961 Convention establishes the means for: the acquisition of nationality by those who would otherwise be stateless and who have an appropriate link with the State through birth on the territory or through descent from nationals, and for the retention of nationality for those who will be made stateless should they inadvertently lose the State’s nationality.43 The principles outlined in the 1961 Convention provide an effective framework within which to resolve conflicts of nationality laws.44 11