Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law 53 (2021) Ghosts in America: Working Towards Building a Legal Framework for Stateless Individuals in the United States acceptance. 111 Only 94 countries are contracting parties to the 1954 Convention, 112 and only 75 countries are contracting parties to the 1961 Convention. 113 Increased ratification efforts of relevant instruments will contribute to a more overall effective international legal framework. 114 There are also problems with the conventions’ normative content.115 The 1954 Convention only requires that Contracting States “shall as far as possible facilitate the assimilation and naturalization of stateless individuals” (Article 32). 116 In other words, the Convention does not impose an obligation on States to confer nationality on stateless individuals. 117 Without a conferral of nationality, a stateless individual remains stateless and at risk of all the consequences discussed above.118 Furthermore, the 1954 Convention only applies to stateless individuals who are lawfully present or lawfully staying in the Contracting State.119 The 1961 Convention fails to oblige States to bestow or retain nationality. 120 Therefore, an individual can still become or remain stateless in that State. 121 Furthermore, neither Conventions, nor the international legal framework as a whole, guarantees an individual a “home state” to which he or she can always return and from which he or she cannot be expelled. 122 Part Two: International Responses to Statelessness In Part Two, we will look at the UNHCR’s and other countries’ approaches towards statelessness. While some countries have made concerted efforts to cooperate with the UNHCR’s efforts to end statelessness, other countries’ treatment of stateless individuals are inconsistent and often contradictory to the UNHCR’s efforts to end 111. Id. 112. See 1954 Convention, supra note 92. 113. See 1961 Convention, supra note 93, at art. 1–4. 114. van Waas, supra note 37, at 138. 115. Id. 116. See 1954 Convention, supra note 92, at art. 32. 117. See id. 118. Protecting the Rights of Stateless Persons, supra note 94, at 5. 119. van Waas, supra note 37, at 138. 120. Id. 121. See generally id. 122. Id. 370