Legal briefing on the rights of stateless Palestinians in the UK September 2025 In summary: why Palestinians should be considered stateless Efforts to enact a Palestinian nationality law have failed, and Palestine currently does not have an independent, sovereign ability to issue identity and travel documents, allow persons to enter and reside in its territory, or offer full diplomatic protection to Palestinians. In these circumstances, Palestinians cannot be considered nationals of Palestine for the purposes of statelessness determination under the 1954 Convention, which defines a person as stateless if they are ‘not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law’ (emphasis added). If Palestine does adopt a nationality law, then persons who are considered nationals under that law might no longer be stateless. However, it will be important to consider other circumstances, including Palestine’s sovereignty and ability to independently issue documentary proof of nationality such as passports to all persons recognised as nationals under its laws, to grant them an unrestricted right to enter and reside in the territory, and to provide them diplomatic protection when abroad, as well as other criteria commonly associated with a nationality. Recognition of the State of Palestine by individual States is not determinative of the statelessness of Palestinians and does not change their circumstances or status, including the lack of a Palestinian nationality law. It is only the international law definition of a stateless person that defines who is stateless, therefore states cannot unilaterally decide that a Palestinian is not stateless just because that country has recognised Palestine. A determination of statelessness grounded in State recognition would lead to inconsistent outcomes across Contracting States to the 1954 Convention and would thus be contrary to international law. Therefore, Palestinians who do not hold the nationality of another country should be considered stateless for the purposes of the 1954 Convention unless and/or until they can be considered nationals of an independent, sovereign State which has a nationality law. 14