as the practice, must be examined, as some states may not precisely adhere to the letter of the law or might even “[go] so far as to ignore its substance.”8 A person’s nationality must be assessed at the time of determination of eligibility to international protection under the 1954 Convention, which is neither a historic nor a predictive exercise.9 This means that, for the determination of whether a person is stateless, it is not relevant that that person is in the process of naturalizing or has the option to acquire the nationality of a given state. Accordingly, if, at the time of the determination, the person is in the process of losing, being deprived of, or renouncing a nationality, the person is still a national.10 Furthermore, the 1954 Convention does not permit states to exclude from protection persons who have voluntarily renounced their nationality.11 1.1.2 Causes of statelessness Statelessness can be caused by numerous factors. Some of these factors are of a legal technical nature, where statelessness is caused by gaps in nationality laws or conflicts of nationality laws. States determine their own nationality laws, within certain limited restrictions imposed by international human rights law. The two principal legal frameworks governing states’ nationality rules are jus sanguinis (citizenship by descent) and jus soli (citizenship by birth in the territory). Conflicts in these laws are one of the several types of conflicts of law situations that can render a child stateless. For example, a child born in the territory of a jus sanguinis state to parents with nationality of a jus soli state would encounter problems obtaining any nationality if the national legislation of the two states relevant here do not contain provisions that would allow such a child to obtain citizenship. Statelessness can also occur later in life. Some legal systems provide for mechanisms of automatic loss of nationality, for example after a long absence from the territory. Some states require that a person renounce his or her nationality before acquiring the nationality of that State. Withdrawal of nationality can also lead to statelessness if there is no adequate safeguard in place to prevent statelessness. Another major cause of statelessness relates to the dissolution and separation of states, transfer of territory between states, and the creation of new states. In the period of decolonization, groups of persons may have been left out of the initial body of citizens under the nationality legislation of the newly independent state. In Europe, many people were left stateless after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Often, nationality laws or practices that discriminate against certain segments of a population, or arbitrary deprivation of nationality, contribute significantly to the creation and perpetuation of statelessness. Such situations can independently account for instances of statelessness, or they can be present alongside the aforementioned causes of statelessness. In some countries, certain ethnic groups within a state or ethnic populations living across multiple states are denied or deprived of nationality. Examples of such populations are the Rohingya in Myanmar, the Bidoon in the Arab Gulf States, and segments of the Roma population in Europe. Discrimination on the ground of gender can also be a cause of statelessness. In some nationality laws, women are not able to pass their nationality on to their children. Moreover, women may lose their nationality upon marriage or upon dissolution of the marriage. The impossibility for women to transmit their nationality to their children is 8 Ibid, para. 24. 9 Ibid, para. 50. 10 Ibid. 11 Ibid, para. 51 and fn. 34 (distinguishing, but not discussing, voluntary renunciation from failure to comply with formalities). UNHCR Representation for the Nordic and Baltic Countries 9