Breaking the Presumption
stateless population from the rest of the society, making them less visible and
aggravating their exclusion from their right to nationality.
Non-refugee stateless populations are considered migrants and, given their
irregular migratory status based on legislation or state practices, they are normally
subject to deportation unless a safeguard is established in the legislation extending
the non-refoulement principle from refugees to the stateless. 67 The extension of
non-refoulement principles to non-refugee stateless persons 68 is recommended by
international guidance, 69 but does not have a compulsory character as in refugee
law. One indicator is that non-refoulement, as a principle applied to statelessness,
has not yet been recognised by international jurisprudence. If a person is
Identification of Statelessness
(b) Calls on UNHCR to continue to work with interested Governments to engage in or to renew
efforts to identify stateless populations and populations with undetermined nationality residing
in their territory
…
(d) Encourages those States which are in possession of statistics on stateless persons or
individuals with undetermined nationality… .
67
UNHCR Conclusion (n 3).
Ukraine: Law on Ukrainian Citizenship (2001) art 29(3) (Ukraine):
Foreigners and stateless persons admitted in accordance with the international agreement on
readmission, which do not have legal grounds for residing in Ukraine, are subject to forced
deportation if there is no agreement on readmission between Ukraine and the country of
nationality or country of last permanent residence of foreigners or stateless persons.
68
69
See also arts 30, 31.
The principle of non-refoulement applied to non-refugee statelessness has been expressly
recognised in SDP norms in the Americas and this constitutes good practice. See Costa Rica:
Costa Rican Migration Law (n 61) art 4(a); Panama: Executive Decree No 10 of 16 January
2019, CXIII(28696-A) Gaceta Oficial 14 art 6(1) (Panama) (‘Panama Executive Decree No
10’). Uruguay: Law No 19.682 ‘Recognition and Protection of Stateless Persons’ (2018) art
6 (Uruguay). Paraguay: Law 6.149 ‘Protection and Assistance to Enable Naturalisation for
Stateless Persons’ (2018) 178 Gaceta Oficial De La Republica Del Paraguay 16, art 12
(Paraguay) (‘Paraguayan Law No 6.149’). While in Georgia, the non-refoulement benefits
the applicant for SDP when they have not been subject to a previous deportation decision, see
Georgian Aliens Law (n 61) art 2(2); Ordinance No 523 ‘Approval of the Procedures for
Determining the Status of a Stateless Person in Georgia’ (2014) (Georgia) (‘Georgian
Ordinance No 523’). In Turkey and in Montenegro the applicant shall hold an ID or certificate
of statelessness status application. See Turkish Foreigners Law (n 61) art 51(1)(b);
Montenegrin Foreigners Law (n 61). In Moldova, the person must be subject to statelessness
recognition: Law No 200 of 16 July 2010 on the Regime of Foreigners in the Republic of
Moldova, 179–81 Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova 610, art 63 (Moldova)
(‘Moldovan Law No 200’), as amended by Law No 284 of 18 December 2011 on Amendment
and Completion of Certain Legislative Documents, 30–33 Monitorul Oficial 93, art IV(5)
(Moldova) (‘Moldovan Law No 284’).
Non-refoulement applied to non-refugee statelessness has been suggested:
[s]imilarly, where standards of treatment are provided for a complementary form of protection,
including protection against refoulement, States must apply these standards to stateless
individuals who qualify for that protection.
Guidelines No 3 (n 39) 3 [9] (emphasis in original); Handbook on Protection of Stateless
Persons (n 2) 46 [127] [128]. See also ‘Non-refoulement. Draft Articles on the Protection of
Stateless Persons and the Facilities for Their Naturalisation (Draft Articles, UNHCR,
February 2017) [13].
No stateless person or applicant for recognition of such status shall be returned, expelled,
extradited or in any way put at the frontier of a territory that may endanger their life, personal
safety or freedom.
75