On The Protection Of Stateless Persons In Germany 41 person to take steps to obtain Lebanese citizenship,28 despite the majority of them holding that generally a person is not required to remove his statelessness to receive protection under the 1954 Convention.29 Even if a person meets the requirements of the definition of stateless person, according to Article 1(2)(i) of the 1954 Convention, he may be excluded from protection on the grounds that he receives protection and assistance from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).30 Several cases have interpreted this provision,31 and it appears that their approach is in line with those of UNHCR32 and the Court of Justice of the European Union in Mostafa Abed El Karem El Kott and Others v. Bevándorlási és Állampolgársági Hivatal.33 According to the Federal Administrative Court, the concerned person does not need to actually receive such protection and assistance at the time of the decision on his claim based on the 1954 Convention. What is decisive is that the person belongs to the category of people whose support falls under UNRWA.34 This includes those 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 VGH Baden-Württemberg, Urteil v 17.12.2003 - 13S 2113/01 holding that the nationality of the claimant’s father was unclear as he only attempted to naturalize at the Lebanese at the Embassy in Bonn and not in Lebanon. Accordingly the nationality of the claimant was still unclear and could not be found to be de jure stateless). VG Berlin, Urteil v 1.03.2012 - 13 K 12.12 (the court expected that the Claimant could ‘re-register’ and being recognized as a citizen of Lebanon). BVerwG, 16.07.1996, InfAusIR 1997, 58, 60. This is further discussed in section 5 of this Article. Article 1(iii) also provides exclusion for persons that have committed a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity; or a serious non-political crime outside the country of their residence prior to their admission to that country; or have been guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. However to keep this Article within boundaries, I only deal with the exclusion clause concerning Palestinians falling under UNRWA’s mandate. The exclusion clause applicable to Palestinians deserves special attention because it has the potential of excluding several stateless Palestinians from protection. Furthermore, States have divergent understandings regarding its meaning. Gyulai (n 1) 286. BVerwG, 21.01.1992, BVerwGE 89, 296, 302-304; BVerwG, 21.01.1992, InfAusIR 1992, 161, 163-164; BVerwG, 23.02.1993, BVerwGE 92, 166, 120; BVerwG, 23.02.1993, InfAusIR 1994, 35. An identical exclusion clause is found in the Refugee Convention. See UNHCR, ‘Note on UNHCR’s Interpretation of Article 1D of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and Article 12(1)(a) of the EU Qualification Directive in the Context of Palestinian Refugees Seeking International Protection’ (2013). Case C-341/11 El Kott and Others v Hungary [2012] OJ C46/8. BVerwG, Urteil v 21.01.1992 - 1 C 18.90. UNRWA’ s area of activity is geographically limited to the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Persons outside the Middle East are therefore not protected by UNRWA. UNRWA’s protection depends on the tilburg law review 19 (2014) 35-51