5. The second prominent concept concerns the so-called W- and W2 identity documents. The former are for asylum-seekers who have not yet received a final decision on their application, whereas the latter are for a (relatively small) group of aliens who are allowed to stay in the Netherlands while their application for a regular residence permit is being decided upon. Both documents show the holder’s identity and nationality and provide for legal residence in the Netherlands. These identity documents do not facilitate international travel. Importantly, W2 identity documents are not issued to persons applying for a “no-fault” residence permit while their – often protracted – application is pending. The government presumes that the grant of a W2 document removes the incentive for persons who may be stateless to contact the authorities of the country of origin and to ask for a passport or other proof of citizenship. According to the Government, this policy is in line with the 1954 Convention.3 6. Dutch immigration or aliens law has no procedure to determine in a binding way whether a person is stateless. Thus, the authorities concerned, such as the IND, the courts, but also the municipalities, do not necessarily agree on whether a person is stateless or not. Under the Law on the Municipal Basic Administration (Wet GBA), the nationality of a person is to be recorded by the municipality where the person is registered. However, the nationality as mentioned on residence documents issued by the IND to persons who cannot show their nationality (e.g. some or even most asylum-seekers) is not regarded as sufficient proof for registration of their nationality in the Municipal Basic Administration (GBA).4 The absence of a statelessness determination procedure, the outcome of which is binding for all authorities, is thus clearly one of the most apparent omissions in the Dutch approach to statelessness. 1.1 Chapter outline 7. This report is divided into five chapters. In this introductory chapter key definitions are provided, methodologies are outlined and the ways in which government authorities register stateless persons are described. The second chapter describes the prevalence of statelessness across the globe and details both its causes and consequences. That chapter also elaborates on UNHCR’s responsibility towards stateless persons. The third chapter is a demographic inquiry into the scale of statelessness in the Netherlands and interprets the available statistical material.5 A fourth chapter provides a legal analysis with respect to statelessness and examines if and to what extent the Netherlands lives up to its obligations borne out of its ratification of two Conventions on statelessness. A fifth and final chapter summarizes the research findings and formulates a number of recommendations. 3 See, e.g., Report 2007/328 of the Ombudsman (Nationale Ombudsman), available at: http://www. nationaleombudsman.nl/sites/default/files/rapporten/20070328__2006.14164.pdf [accessed 23 September 2011], at p. 4. 4  he Municipalities of Amsterdam, The Hague, Leiden and Rotterdam translate the term GBA T in English as “Municipal Personal Records Database”, while that of Dordrecht translates it as “Municipal Population Registry”. 5  nother version of this report, which is to be published by the consultants separately, recounts in A more detail the experiences of stateless persons interviewed as part of this project. in the Netherlands 5