Chapter 2 Identifying and Protecting Stateless Persons Despite attempts to reduce the incidence of statelessness through national citizenship laws and through the implementation of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and other international instruments, UNHCR estimates that there are millions of people around the world who have no nationality. The 1954 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons identifies who is a stateless person, promotes the acquisition of a legal identity for those persons, and ensures that stateless persons enjoy fundamental rights and freedoms without discrimination. “We can’t get regular jobs, we can’t move, we are like boats without ports. Access to education and healthcare are also problems. I couldn’t finish high school or go to college. I can only see a doctor in a private hospital, not in the government ones.” Abdullah, a stateless Bidoon living in the United Arab Emirates Who is a stateless person? The 1954 Convention defines a stateless person as one “who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law” (Article 1). This is a purely legal definition. It does not allude to the quality of nationality, the manner in which nationality is granted, or access to a nationality. The definition simply refers to an operation of law by which a State’s nationality legislation defines ex lege, or automatically, who has citizenship. Given this definition, to be determined “stateless”, a person has to prove a negative: that he/she has no legal bond with any relevant country. In trying to establish proof of statelessness, States should review the relevant nationality legislation of those States with which the individual has prior links (such as through birth, previous habitual residence, the State[s] of which a spouse or children are nationals, the State[s] of which the individual’s parents or grand-parents are nationals), consult with those States, and request evidence, as necessary. States should request the full cooperation from the individual concerned in providing all relevant facts and information. UNHCR can facilitate consultations between States and can provide technical information on the relevant laws and their implementation in various States, as requested. Documents from a responsible State authority certifying that the individual concerned is not a national is usually a reliable form of evidence of statelessness. However, such evidence may not always be available. The relevant authorities of the country of origin or country of former habitual residence may refuse to issue certified documents stating that the person is not a national, or they may simply not reply to inquiries. Some State authorities will feel they are not responsible for indicating which persons do not have a legal bond 17