Kyrgyzstan. Lyuli family helped out of statelessness © UNHCR/Chris de Bode Defini�on, causes and consequences of statelessness What is statelessness? As defined in Ar�cle 1 of the 1954 Conven�on Rela�ng to the Status of Stateless Persons, a “stateless person” is “a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law”.3 People who are stateless are dis�nct from refugees and internally displaced people. Most stateless people are not displaced and reside where they were born and have lived their whole lives. Some of them may however be refugees and IDPs as well as being stateless. This is the case, for example, for the Rohingya stateless refugee popula�on in Bangladesh. Stateless people are also dis�nct from undocumented people or irregular migrants. Lack of iden�ty papers or lack of legal stay in a country does not make a person stateless per se, although such people may be stateless or at risk of statelessness. What are the main causes of statelessness? • Na�onality laws that are not consistent with interna�onal standards; • State succession or transfer of territory; • Weak birth registra�on systems and administra�ve barriers to birth registra�on; • Protracted refugee situa�ons, especially when mul�-genera�onal. 3