A PERSONAL APPEAL FROM THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES Stateless children are often unable to obtain primary education. For several decades, the State of Sabah in Malaysia has been host to refugees from the Philippines and migrants from Indonesia and the Philippines. The children of these groups often end up stateless. While children who possess the right documents are able to attend school, those who don’t, like the two boys on the right, are left out of most public programmes. I would like more information about: UNHCR and its work on statelessness Visit UNHCR’s statelessness website at www.unhcr.org/statelessness. You can also consult relevant Conclusions on International Protection of UNHCR’s Executive Committee, in particular Conclusion 106 on Identification, Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness and Protection of Stateless Persons (2006). International law relating to the protection of stateless persons, including the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons G. CONSTANTINE Today, millions of people around the world face serious difficulties owing to statelessness. The Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons provides a framework for States to assist stateless people – allowing them to live in security and dignity until their situation can be resolved. Presently, very few States are parties to this instrument. We need to change that. I call on States to accede to the Convention and pledge the full support of my Office to governments to help implement its provisions. Cover : António Guterres Published by: UNHCR P.O. Box 2500 1211 Geneva 2 Switzerland UNHCR, January 2014 For a more detailed discussion of the 1954 Convention as well as other international norms relating to the protection of stateless persons, see Nationality and Statelessness: A Handbook for Parliamentarians (UNHCR and Inter-Parliamentary Union, 2005, revised second edition forthcoming in 2014). For a detailed commentary on the 1954 Convention, see Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons – Its History and Interpretation (Robinson, 1955), and UNHCR Guidelines on Statelessness on the definition of “Stateless Person” in Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons; Procedures for Determining whether an Individual is a Stateless Person; and the Status of Stateless Persons at the National Level. To access these and other relevant international documents on statelessness, visit UNHCR’s Refworld website at http://www.refworld.org/ statelessness.html