2021
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
3(1)
Moldova: Law No 200 of 16 July 2010 on the Regime of Foreigners in the
Republic of Moldova (‘Law No 200’) ......................................................... 80
Georgia: Ordinance No 523 ‘Approval of the Procedures for Determining
the Status of a Stateless Person in Georgia’ (‘Ordinance No 523’) ......... 81
Turkey: Implementing Regulation on Foreigners and International
Protection (‘Regulation on Foreigners and International Protection’) ..... 82
Ukraine: Law of Ukraine on Amending Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine
Regarding Recognition as a Stateless Person (‘Ukraine Statelessness
Amendment Law’) ....................................................................................... 82
VII Commentary on The Safeguards against the Presumption That SDP Applicants Are
Foreign .................................................................................................................... 83
VIII Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 85
IX Table of SDP Laws ................................................................................................. 87
Americas ..................................................................................................... 87
Europe ........................................................................................................ 88
Asia ............................................................................................................. 91
Africa .......................................................................................................... 92
I
INTRODUCTION
Neither the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Statelessness Persons
(‘1954 Convention’) nor the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness
expressly regulate how states could adopt statelessness determination procedures
(‘SDP’) as key tools for the identification and protection of stateless persons. 1
Thus, states are left with discretion as to the design and operation of SDPs. 2
For these reasons, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(‘UNHCR’) and international experts have recommended that states enact SDPs
for the identification and protection of stateless persons based on interpretations
of the 1954 Convention. 3 In 2014, UNHCR launched the ‘#IBelong Campaign to
End Statelessness by 2024’, 4 which provided a framework of 10 actions to end
statelessness over a decade. The action concerning the adoption of SDPs for this
1
Good Practices Paper — Action 6: Establishing Statelessness Determination Procedures to
Protect Stateless Persons (Good Practices Paper, UNHCR, July 2020) 4 (‘Good Practices
Paper 2020’) 4.
Establishing a procedure or mechanism to identify stateless persons is thus an implicit obligation
of the 1954 Convention. The 1954 Convention establishes the international legal definition of a
‘stateless person’ but is silent on how States are to determine whether an individual is stateless.
Establishing an SDP is the most efficient means for States Parties to the 1954 Convention to
identify the beneficiaries of that Convention.
See also Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, opened for signature 28 July
1951, 189 UNTS 150 (entered into force 22 April 1954) (‘1954 Convention’); Convention on
the Reduction of Statelessness, opened for signature 30 August 1961, 989 UNTS 185 (entered
into force 13 December 1975).
2
3
4
Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons under the 1954 Convention Relating to the
Status of Stateless Persons (UNHCR 2014) 67 [64] (‘Handbook on Protection of Stateless
Persons’).
Conclusion on Identification, Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness and Protection of
Stateless Persons (Report No 106 (LVII), UNHCR 2006) (‘UNHCR Conclusion’); Good
Practices Paper — Action 6: Establishing Statelessness Determination Procedures to Protect
Stateless Persons (Good Practices Paper, UNHCR 11 July 2016) 2 (‘Good Practices Paper
2016’); Good Practices Paper 2020 (n 1).
See ‘Global Action Plan to End Statelessness: 2014–2024’, UNHCR (Web Page)
<https://www.unhcr.org/ibelong/global-action-plan-2014-2024/> (‘#IBelong Campaign’).
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