Can a stateless person also be a refugee? Individuals who are de facto stateless are not included in the 1954 Convention’s definition of a stateless person. The drafters of the 1954 Convention presumed that all persons without an effective nationality – that is, all de facto stateless persons – were refugees. (The drafters of the Convention assumed that an individual became de facto stateless after fleeing his/her country of nationality because of persecution by the State, and that that persecution was related to a lack of effective citizenship.) Given this assumption, de facto stateless persons receive international assistance under the provisions of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. However, being de jure or de facto stateless does not necessarily signify persecution (a “well-founded fear of persecution” is the crux of the definition of a refugee as set out in the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees). It has become clear over the years that there are de facto stateless persons who do not acquire citizenship in their country of habitual residence yet who do not qualify as either refugees or as de jure stateless persons. Indeed, most stateless persons who require assistance from UNHCR, whether they are de jure or de facto stateless, are not refugees and have no claim to asylum. What does the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness provide for? In August 1950, an ECOSOC Resolution requested that the ILC prepare a draft international Convention or Conventions for the elimination of statelessness. The ILC drafted two Conventions for consideration, both addressing the problem of statelessness resulting from conflicts of laws. One Convention, on the elimination of future statelessness, contained provisions that went much further than those contained in the second draft Convention, which focused on reducing the incidence of statelessness in the future. Participants in a conference convened to consider the issue determined that the former Convention was too radical and elected to work with the draft Convention on the Reduction of Future Statelessness. The instrument that finally emerged from this process is the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. (See Annex 2 for a list of States Parties to the 1961 Convention.) The articles of the Convention aim to avoid statelessness at birth, but they neither prohibit the possibility of revocation of nationality under certain circumstances, nor retroactively grant citizenship to all currently stateless persons. The Convention also provides for the creation of a body to which a person who may benefit from the provisions of the Convention may apply to have his/her claim examined and to seek assistance in presenting the claim to the appropriate authority. The General Assembly subsequently asked UNHCR to fulfill this role. The ILC and State delegates determined that international assistance was necessary because when an individual is denied citizenship of a State, he/she would have neither 12