2021 Statelessness & Citizenship Review 3(1) descendants, the acquisition of property etc. 24 This also applies when nationality is restored by an act of recognition by the state but, in practice, the person cannot effectively access to all or part of the rights attached to nationality. 25 Persons in this category might be considered de facto stateless, however, if the state does not recognise them as a national they may also be de jure stateless. 2 A Person Who Does Not Have National ID but Has the Right to Nationality Persons who have the right to a nationality of a state according to its constitution or citizenship laws, but are unable to enjoy the rights attached to nationality owing to administrative and procedural hurdles, incorrect interpretation of norms, lack of information, costs, inexistence of diplomatic missions or other material reasons may also, in fact, be stateless if these circumstances amount to a state not recognising them as a national. 24 For example, in Latvia, according to Law on the Status of Those Former USSR Citizens Who Are Not Citizens of Latvia or Any Other State (1995) 63 Latvijas Vēstnesis (Latvia) (‘Law on Former USSR Citizens’): there are two groups of concern to UNHCR: the ‘non-citizens’, and stateless persons determined in the Statelessness Determination Procedure. While the ‘non-citizens’ in Latvia are entitled to rights that generally beyond the minimum rights prescribed by the 1954 Convention, and as such they may be considered persons to whom the Convention does not apply in accordance with Article 1.2(ii). In comparison with the situation of citizens of Latvia, differences exist in access to employment, property purchases, political rights and pensions. Latvia Fact Sheet (Fact Sheet, UNHCR 2021) 2 <https://reporting.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/Biannual%20fact%20sheet%202021%2002%20Latvia.pdf>. See also ‘Latvia’, Statelessness Index (Web Page, 2020) <https://index.statelessness.eu/country/latvia> (‘Statelessness Index: Latvia’). ‘non-citizens’ in Latvia clearly lack a nationality and therefore meet the definition of a stateless person under international law regardless of any separate legal consideration of whether they should be excluded from protection under the 1954 Convention. 25 For example, in 2014, the Dominican Republic issued Law No 169/2014 recognising Dominicans of Haitian descent registered in the civil registry; the beneficiaries still face challenges accessing to documentation and the rights attached to nationality, such as registering their offspring. See Ley No 169/2014 Establece un Régimen Especial Para Personas Nacidas en el Territorio Nacional Inscritas Irregularmente en el Registro Civil Dominicano y Sobre Naturalización [Law No 169/2014 Establishing a Special Regime for People Born in the Territory National Irregularly Registered in the Dominican Civil Registry and about Naturalization], 10765 GO (Dominican Republic). Therefore, it is important to keep monitoring countries that have recognised, confirmed or returned nationality, as in practice, beneficiaries could not effectively access ID nor the attached rights given administrative, material or political reasons and could be at risk of statelessness. For example, consider the current situation of the Makondes (2016) and Shona (2020) peoples. They were in situ stateless populations that were recently recognised as ethnic group nationals of Kenya. See Kenya (Submission, UNHCR 2019) 3 <https://www.refworld.org/type,COUNTRYREP,,KEN,5e1732de2,0.html>. See also ‘End of Statelessness for the Shona in Kenya: The Journey Towards Citizenship’, Kenya Human Rights Commission (online, 12 January 2021) <https://www.khrc.or.ke/2015-03-04-10-3701/blog/733-end-of-stateleness-for-the-shona-in-kenya-the-journey-towardscitizenship.html>. 66