against humanity...; (b) They have committed a serious non-political crime outside the country of their residence prior to their admission to that country; (c) They have been guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations” are excluded from the scope of the 1954 Convention and are not viewed as deserving of international protection or as persons of concern to UNHCR. Article 1 also excludes those who have already obtained the rights and obligations accorded to nationals in the country where they reside as well as those who are already receiving the protection of the United Nations. In addition, individuals who are stateless based on having voluntarily renounced their nationality for reasons of personal convenience may not require protection in the U.S. It should be understood that any stateless individual who falls within any of these exclusion grounds would not generally be eligible for the protection, rights and benefits discussed throughout this report. UNHCR is best known as the international agency mandated from its inception in 1951 by the U.N. General Assembly with responsibility for providing international protection to refugees and others of concern, and together with Governments, for seeking permanent solutions for their problems. Statute of the Office of the UNHCR ¶ 1, U.N. Doc. A/RES/428(v) (Dec. 14, 1950); see also, 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, July 28, 1951, 19 U.S.T. 6259 and 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, Jan. 31, 1967, 606 U.N.T.S. 267. 4 At least 35 states pledged to accede to, or take steps to accede to, one or both 1954 Convention and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, Aug. 30, 1961, 989 U.N.T.S.175 (1961 Convention), or to take other treaty action. For a complete summary of all pledges undertaken by states parties during the December 2011 ministerial meeting closing out the Commemorations Year, see UNHCR, Pledges 2011 - Ministerial Intergovernmental Event on Refugees and Stateless Persons, May 2012, available at <http://www.unhcr.org/4ff55a319.html>. 5 For a complete list of the U.S. Government pledges made during the December 2011 ministerial meeting in closing out the 2011 Commemorations Year, see <http://www.state.gov/j/prm/releases/factsheets/2011/181020.htm>. 6 An individual may be both stateless and a refugee. Stateless individuals who are also refugees may receive the protection of asylum in the U.S. and Solutions for the Stateless in the U.S. through this determination will have access to the subsequent process for attaining lawful permanent resident status and ultimately U.S. citizenship. The fact of being stateless is not, alone, a basis to receive the protection of asylum or refugee status in the U.S. or elsewhere. 7 Trop v. Dulles, 356 U.S. 86, 102 (1958). In this landmark decision the Supreme Court struck down a law authorizing the deprivation of citizenship as punishment for conviction by court martial of wartime desertion. 8 The internationally recognized definition of statelessness is contained in the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, Sept. 28, 1954, 360 U.N.T.S.117, Article 1 and is discussed more fully in various sections of this report. 9 For purposes of this report, the terms nationality and citizenship shall be used interchangeably. At the international level these terms are generally considered synonymous. Some countries do, however, make a distinction between the two. For example, in the United States, there is a small number of individuals who may be nationals but not citizens, including (1) persons born in outlying possessions of the U.S.; (2) persons born outside the United States to U.S. nationals who are not U.S. citizens, but who have met certain residency requirements; (3) foundlings discovered in an outlying possession under the age of five; and (4) persons born outside the United States to one U.S. national who has met certain residency requirements. 8 U.S.C. § 1408. 10 See, e.g., UNHCR Stateless People: Who is Stateless and Where at: <http://www.unhcr.org/ pages/49c3646c15e.html>. 11 For an explanation of additional stateless populations, or populations at risk of statelessness, in the U.S. whose situations are not addressed by this report, see supra note 2. 12 See, e.g., General Assembly Resolution 50/152 (1996) at ¶14 (“The General Assembly….Encourages the High Commissioner [for Refugees] to continue her activities on behalf of stateless persons, as part of her statutory function of providing international protection and of seeking preventive action....”) (emphasis in original); General Assembly Resolution 61/137 (2007) (“The General Assembly...notes the work of the High Commissioner [for Refugees] in regard to identifying stateless persons, prevention and reducing statelessness, and protecting stateless persons, and urges the Office of the High Commissioner 37