residence permit. In none of these processes does their statelessness per se appear to have been given much attention, as discussed in greater detail in Chapter 3. 2.3.2 The human face of statelessness Most known stateless persons in Norway appear to be asylum-seekers and refugees. Also, stateless persons are among unreturnable persons. In many cases, it is likely that asylum-seeking stateless persons have faced various obstacles due to their statelessness before arriving in Norway. Even less appears to be known about stateless children in Norway. Stakeholders who specialize in advocacy, counseling, and research on the status of children, like UNICEF Norway, had not come across stateless children in their work. Moreover, UNICEF Norway is not familiar with any issues in relation to the situation of children born in Norway who have no nationality.102 The Health Centre for Undocumented Immigrants, however, highlighted that children born to irregular immigrants in Norway and are not registered with any authorities are at risk of statelessness. 2.4 Conclusions and recommendations Awareness of statelessness as a human rights issue independent of refugee or asylum-seeker status is generally low among government authorities, NGOs, and the public. There is a corresponding lack of research on the situation of stateless persons in Norway, as well as a lack of targeted assistance aimed at this group. For these reasons, it was difficult to get a picture of the origins, backgrounds, and profiles of stateless persons in Norway. Because available statistics on stateless persons do not provide more detailed information on their origins and backgrounds, they are of limited value for capturing a picture of the human face of statelessness. Unfortunately, the scope of this research project did not allow UNHCR to conduct participatory assessments103 with stateless persons in Norway, which would have been of value to learn more about stateless persons’ profiles and situations. UNHCR would therefore recommend that such a participatory study be undertaken, as it would shed light on the situation of stateless person and how they are impacted by the current legal framework and practice in this area. Although there is no formal statelessness determination procedure in Norway, individuals can be registered as stateless in the course of having their identity, including nationality (or lack thereof), established within the context of immigration procedures. Although the definition of a stateless person, as set forth in Article 1 of the 1954 Convention, is not found in Norway’s domestic legislation, it is applicable in Norway, given sector monism in the area of immigration and nationality law. Indeed, UDI reports that it applies the Article 1 definition. Nonetheless, UNHCR recommends expressly incorporating the Article 1 definition into national law. Such an approach would dispel any possibility of ambiguity under national law. Various government authorities are involved in the registration of persons on Norwegian territory, including persons who are stateless and who, for example, are seeking asylum or an entry visa. The different authorities register persons for different purposes, at different points in time, and in different registries, which are more or less connected and streamlined. 26 102 Email from UNICEF Norway, dated 8 August 2012. 103 UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UNHCR Tool for Participatory Assessment in Operations, May 2006, First edition, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/462df4232.html M A P P I N G STAT E L E S S N E S S I N N O RWAY