what co-operation entails, which can potentially contribute to the statelessness of children.109 Principle 7. treat children who are factually (de facto) stateless, as far as possible, as legally stateless (de jure) with respect to the acquisition of nationality; 115. The appropriateness of the use of the notion of “de facto stateless” should be examined. Since the adoption of the recommendation, the UNHCR has considered that the notion of “de facto stateless” was not desirable as it was not defined in any international instrument and there was no specific regime attached to it in any treaty.110 If this principle were to be kept, further elaboration should be made in the explanatory memorandum in connection with the position of UNHCR. Principle 8. register children as being of unknown or undetermined nationality, or classify children’s nationality as being “under investigation” only for as short a period as possible; 116. The revision of this principle should be examined in order to take into account developments with UNHCR Guidelines on statelessness No 4 and the decision of UN Human Rights Committee in the case Denny Zhao v. The Netherlands. More specifically, The appropriateness of specifying in the principle a time limit of five years in line with these developments should be considered. Principle 9. treat children found abandoned on their territory with no known parentage, as far as possible, as foundlings with respect to the acquisition of nationality; 117. Further guidance in the explanatory memorandum could prove useful as this has proved a complex area to navigate for member states. Principle 10. provide that the revocation or annulment of an adoption will not cause the loss of the nationality acquired by this adoption, if statelessness would be the consequence; 118. Owing to the extreme sensitivity on the issue of intercountry adoption, it should be discussed whether principles related to it should be kept or left out and dealt with in a separate instrument. 109. See also paras. 18 and 31. 110. See UNHCR Handbook on the Protection of Stateless Persons, 2014, para. 7. Page 38 ►Stateless children’s access to nationality