January 2019 there were also 19,644 people registered as “undetermined nationality” and 2,134 as “Palestinian authority (West Bank and Gaza)”. It is likely that some people in these two categories are at risk of statelessness, if not stateless already. 9. These figures do not accurately represent the total stateless population in Belgium and they reflect the challenges faced by the authorities in registering people whose nationality cannot be determined at birth, people without identity documents from their country of origin, and people of Palestinian origin. Many people are not included in the national registry, for example, those awaiting statelessness determination without a valid residence permit (or with a permit valid for less than three months), those recognised as stateless without a valid residence permit, and other stateless people not in any procedure, without a residence permit, or holding a permit for less than three months. Figures for the number of asylum seekers registered as ‘stateless’ are recorded, published and available monthly in line with Eurostat requirements. Data on stateless people held in immigration detention is not routinely collected or published. National Law 10. According to Article 1 of the 1954 Convention, “a ‘stateless person’ means a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law”. Belgian law does not set out a definition of a stateless person, but since the 1954 Convention has direct effect, the 1954 Convention definition applies. 11. Belgium has a judicial procedure through which statelessness can be determined by one of six family courts. The Judiciary Code contains provisions governing the application for statelessness (material and territorial competence of the tribunal, rules of procedure).15 However, there are no specific procedural safeguards nor legislation on statelessness determination. There is no legislation on the rights that recognised stateless persons are entitled to, therefore a person recognised as stateless under the judicial procedure does not derive any additional rights (beyond those accessible to undocumented migrants) from this recognition (see further, para. 15). 12. In addition, there is no specific provision in the Belgian Immigration Act16 regarding the possibility for stateless persons to apply for a residence permit. Persons recognised as stateless by the tribunal must apply for a residence permit on humanitarian grounds17 (see further, para. 16). 13. The Belgian Nationality Act contains various provisions regarding the acquisition of Belgian nationality by stateless persons. A child born in Belgium who would otherwise be stateless shall be granted Belgian nationality,18 and persons recognised as stateless have facilitated access to Belgian nationality by way of naturalisation. 19 The law has mechanisms to prevent a person who renounces, loses or is deprived of Belgian nationality from becoming stateless.20 15 Art. 569, 572bis, 632bis and 1025 to 1034 of the Belgian Judicial Code Loi du 15 décembre 1980 sur l’accès au territoire, le séjour, l’établissement et l’éloignement des étrangers. 17 Art. 9bis of the Immigration Act. Article 98 of the Royal Decree of 8 October 1981 states that stateless persons and their families fall under general regulation. 18 Article 10 of the Belgian Nationality Act. 19 Article 19(2) of the Belgian Nationality Act. 20 Articles 22, 23, 23/1 and 23/2 of the Belgian Nationality Act. 16 4