With respect to most of the rights enumerated in the 1954 Convention, stateless persons should have at least the same access to the rights and benefits as that guaranteed to aliens, particularly concerning gainful employment (Articles 17, 18 and 19), housing (Article 21) and freedom of movement (Article 26). For other specific rights, Contracting States are required to accord stateless persons lawfully residing on their territory a standard of treatment comparable to that accorded to nationals of the State, particularly for freedom to practise a religion (Article 4), artistic rights and industrial property (Article 14), elementary education (Article 22), public relief (Article 23), and labour legislation and social security (Article 24). UNHCR’s Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons aims at assisting governments to ensure that stateless persons enjoy the standard of treatment required under the 1954 Convention and International Human Rights Law. Are recognized stateless persons entitled to identity and travel documents? The 1954 Convention stipulates that Contracting States shall issue identity papers to any stateless person in their territory who does not possess a valid travel document. Article 28 stipulates that Contracting States shall issue travel documents to stateless persons who lawfully reside in their territory, unless compelling reasons of national security and public order argue otherwise. The issuance of a travel document does not imply a grant of nationality and does not alter the status of the individual. The second part of Article 28 invites States to issue travel documents to any stateless person in the territory, even those who are not lawful residents. States are asked to consider issuing Convention Travel Documents to stateless persons who are on their territory and who are unable to obtain a travel document from their country of lawful residence. This provision is particularly important, given that many stateless persons may not have a country of lawful residence. A travel document both helps to identify the stateless person and also allows the individual to seek entry into an appropriate State. Travel documents are particularly important to stateless persons in facilitating travel to other countries for study, employment, health care or resettlement. In accordance with the Schedule to the Convention, each Contracting State agrees to recognize the validity of travel documents issued by other States Parties. UNHCR can offer technical advice on issuing these kinds of documents. States parties to the 1954 Convention are required to issue stateless persons with machine readable convention travel documents in line with the standards and specifications set out in the International Civil Aviation Organisation/ UNHCR Guide for Issuing Machine Readable Convention Documents for Refugees and Stateless Persons. Can a State expel a person recognized as stateless? Under the terms of the 1954 Convention, stateless persons lawfully staying in the country are not to be expelled except on grounds of national security or public order. Expulsions are subject to due‑process‑of‑law safeguards, unless there are compelling reasons of national security. Procedural guarantees should therefore be in place to allow the stateless 26