Expert Meeting Interpreting the 1961 Statelessness Convention and Avoiding Statelessness resulting from Loss and Deprivation of Nationality Summary Conclusions Expert meeting convened by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Tunis, Tunisia, 31 October-1 November 2013 The fourth in a series of expert meetings on statelessness convened by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, this event focused on interpreting Articles 5 to 9 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (1961 Convention) and the safeguards contained therein for avoiding statelessness resulting from loss and deprivation of nationality.1 Professor Gerard-René de Groot prepared a background paper for the meeting. Thirty-three participants from eighteen countries with experience in government, NGOs, academia, the judiciary, the legal profession and international organizations contributed to the debate and conclusions. The meeting began by examining the meaning of “loss” and “deprivation” of nationality and of “arbitrary deprivation of nationality” as prohibited inter alia by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The discussion then turned to loss of nationality as a result of change in personal status and due to extension of loss or deprivation of nationality to the spouse or children. This was followed by examination of loss and deprivation due to prolonged residence abroad, and deprivation of nationality on the basis of fraudulent acquisition of nationality and conduct inconsistent with the duty of loyalty to the State or evidence of allegiance to another State. The meeting ended with discussion of the prohibition of deprivation of nationality on racial, ethnic, religious or political grounds. For each topic, participants looked at both the 1961 Convention and relevant provisions of universal and regional human rights treaties. The following summary conclusions do not necessarily represent the individual views of participants or those of UNHCR, but reflect broadly the key understandings and recommendations that emerged from the discussion. 1 UNHCR has convened a series of Expert Meetings on statelessness in preparation for the drafting of guidelines under UNHCR’s statelessness mandate. Previous expert meetings examined the following issues: (i) the definition of a “stateless person” in Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons; (ii) the concept of de facto statelessness; (iii) procedures for determining whether a person is stateless; (iv) the status (in terms of rights and obligations) to be accorded to stateless persons under national law; and (v) the scope of international legal safeguards for preventing statelessness among children.