36 Bianchini adopted specific statelessness determination procedures and do not recognize stateless status as a specific protection ground.1 Germany is among these States. Due to the complexity of the Federal system, the little awareness that exists in the country on the topic and the lack of sources in the English language, very little is known on how Germany deals with claims arising out of the 1954 Convention.2 This article’s aim is to partially address this gap. 1 Gabor Gyulai, ‘Statelessness in the EU Framework for International Protection’ (2012) 14(3) EJML 279, 287. 2 Very little is also known on the stateless population in Germany. As of 2010, the Central Aliens Register reports 13.317 stateless people living in Germany. Federal Ministry of the Interior, ‘Migration and Integration’ (2011) 38; Statistisches Bundesamt, ‘Bevölkerung und Erwerbstätigkeit. Ausländische Bevölkerung Ergebnisse des Ausländerzentralregisters’ (31 March 2011, rectified on 4 April 2011) 28, 29, 32, 33. Of those stateless people, 4.553 belong to a subgroup of displaced persons (Haimatlose Ausländer – these are refugees and displaced persons as a result of the Second World War) admitted under the Law on the Status of Displaced Foreigners in Germany (Gesetz über die Rechtsstellung heimatloser Ausländer im Bundesgebiet (BGBl III, 243-1), das zuletzt durch Artikel 7 des Gesetzes vom 30. Juli 2004 (BGBl 2004 I, 1950) geändert worden ist). Federal Ministry of the Interior, ‘Migration and Integration’ (2011) 26. Moreover, nearly 30% of stateless persons in Germany were born in the country and one quarter of them have lived there for more than 30 years. Statistisches Bundesamt, ibid 28, 29, 32, 33, 59, 64, 65; Gyulai (n 1) 280. UNHCR’ s estimates on stateless persons differ from those of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. According to UNHCR, in 2010, there were 7.920 stateless persons. However, this figure does not represent the total of the people registered as stateless in Germany, and stateless persons holding a humanitarian residence title and stateless asylum seekers are not.included. UNHCR, ‘Stateless Persons – 2010’ (2011) excel tables <http://www.unhcr/pages/4a0174156.html> accessed 19 October 2011. The largest groups of stateless persons in Germany are reported to be those of Roma, Palestinians, and Syrian Kurds. The International Observatory on Statelessness, ‘Germany’ <http://www.nationalityforall.org/germany> accessed 10 October 2013. Precise estimates of these groups are impossible for three reasons: (1) Germany does not collect statistic or socio-economic data based on ethnic origin; (2) there are no non-governmental sources; and (3) an administrative representative census is impossible. In fact, several legal reasons would arise in connection with data collection on ethnic basis. First, a person’s view of belonging to a certain national minority is voluntary according to Article 3 of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Such a view is a personal decision which is not recorded or controlled by the State. Furthermore, the Bonn-Copenhagen Declarations of 1955, the Act on the Rights of Sorbs in the Free State of Saxony and the Act on the Embodiment of the Rights of the Sorbs in the State of Brandenburg conflict with the collection of data on ethnical basis. Bundesministerium des Innern, Bericht der Bundesrepublik Deutschland an die Europäische Kommission, ‘EU-Rahmen für Nationale Strategien zur Integration der Roma bis 2020. Integrierte Maßnahmenpakete zur Integration und Teilhabe der Sinti und Roma in Deutschland’ (2011) 12 <http://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/ DE/Kurzmeldungen/pstb_roma.pdf?__blob=publicationFile> accessed 9 October 2012. tilburg law review 19 (2014) 35-51