2 STATELESSNESS ACROSS THE GLOBE AND UNHCR’S ENGAGEMENT WITH STATELESSNESS Statelessness remains a global problem with millions of persons living without nationality in the world today.6 A significant number of those affected are children not recognized as citizens by any State and pushed into a legal limbo and a life of exclusion. 2.1 Defining a stateless person The definition of a “stateless person” is set out in Article 1 (1) of the 1954 Convention, which provides that a “stateless person” is “a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law”. The International Law Commission has concluded that the Article 1 (1) definition of a “stateless person” is part of customary international law.7 The present report focuses on persons falling under this definition.8 “A national” refers to a formal bond between a person and the State, which does not have to be an effective or genuine link.9 To determine whether an individual is considered as a national or not, it is not only necessary to look at the nationality laws of the States to which a person might have links, but also to the practices of the States in applying or implementing those laws.10 Moreover, a person’s nationality must be assessed at the time of determination of eligibility under the 1954 Convention, which is neither a historic nor a predictive exercise.11 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 certain State. If, at the time of determination, that person is in the process of losing, being deprived of or renouncing a nationality, the person is still a national. Furthermore, when statelessness results from voluntary renunciation of nationality, the person may not be excluded from the protection of the 1954 Convention.12 In the context of the Czech Republic, the categories of persons registered as of “unknown nationality” are also relevant when examining approaches and challenges related to statelessness. They are thus included in the study. 12 6 For more information, please see UNHCR, Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2017, 22 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b2d1a867.html. 7 See the International Law Commission, Draft Articles on Diplomatic Protection with Commentaries, 2006, p. 49 (stating that the Article 1 definition can “no doubt be considered as having acquired a customary nature”), available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/525e7929d.html. 8 The UNHCR Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons explains that “persons who fall within the scope of Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention are sometimes referred to as ‘de jure’ stateless persons,” UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, 30 June 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/53b676aa4.html, para. 7. Individuals who have a nationality but are outside the country of their nationality and are denied diplomatic and consular protection accorded to other nationals by their State of nationality have been referred to as “de facto” stateless. See UNHCR, Expert Meeting – The Concept of Stateless Persons under International Law (“Prato Conclusions”), May 2010, pp. 5-8, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/4ca1ae002.html. The term “de jure” is not found in any international treaty and is not used in this report, yet it must be emphasized that the present report does not include “de facto” stateless persons. 9 UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, cited above, para. 54. 10 UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, cited above, paras. 23-24. 11 UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, cited above, para. 50. 12 UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, cited above, para. 51. Faces of Statelessness in the Czech Republic