Existing Statelessness determination procedure Greece and Slovakia have provisions for the protection of stateless persons in their laws but have not yet established procedures to determine statelessness. In Switzerland, the State Secretariat for Migration conducts procedures to determine statelessness. The Federal Administrative Procedure Act applies, meaning fundamental procedural safeguards are guaranteed.7 However, Switzerland does not have legal provisions specifically establishing a statelessness determination procedure. In Belgium, although a person can be determined to be stateless by one of the five family courts established in the seat of a court of appeal, there are no specific procedural safeguards in place for the determination of statelessness, and the person recognized as stateless does not derive any rights from this recognition.8 UNHCR encourages these and other States to adopt dedicated mechanisms to determine statelessness that include the procedural safeguards set out in the Handbook and provide a legal status for stateless persons.9 The lead-up to the establishment or improvement of a statelessness determination procedure A number of initiatives and developments may contribute to building the necessary political will to establish an SDP or to improve the situation of stateless persons. One such development is the increase in the number of States Parties to the 1954 Convention. Some countries have been States Parties for years, without establishing any mechanism for the application of its provisions. Others, such as Georgia, Moldova, Spain and Turkey, have seen accession to the 1954 Convention and establishment of an SDP go hand in hand. Research into the scope of statelessness and the profile of the stateless population in a number of countries has increased awareness of the problem and of the necessity of establishing an SDP to fully implement obligations under the 1954 Convention.10 7 UNHCR, Summary and recommendations: Statelessness in Switzerland, November 2018, available at: https://www. unhcr.org/dach/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2019/04/CH_UNHCR-Statelessness_in_Switz-Summary-ENG-screen.pdf 8 UNHCR, Mapping Statelessness in Belgium – Summary Report, October 2012, available at: http://www.refworld.org/ docid/5100f3412.html 9 The procedures in Switzerland and Belgium are not considered as dedicated statelessness determination procedures. 10 See for example UNHCR, Mapping Statelessness in Malta, August 2014, available at: http://www.refworld.org/ docid/546dae5d4.html; UNHCR, Mapping Statelessness in the Netherlands, November 2011, available at: http://www.refworld. org/docid/4eef65da2.html; UNHCR, Mapping Statelessness in Norway, October 2015, available at: http://www.refworld.org/ docid/5653140d4.html; UNHCR, Mapping Statelessness in The United Kingdom, 22 November 2011, available at: http://www. refworld.org/docid/4ecb6a192.html 6 U N H C R > G P P AC T I O N 6 : E S TA B L I S H I N G S TAT E L E S S N E S S D E T E R M I N AT I O N P R O C E D U R E S