needs to meet in order to be considered a national. Such requirements generally refer to links a person has with the State. The most important proof thus relates to place of birth and to parentage. These facts are recorded through birth registration, underscoring the reason why universal birth registration is crucial in realising the right to a nationality.6 The UN should therefore work with States to ensure that adequate birth registration, civil registration and other documentation systems are in place at the country level and develop national capacity for effective public administration in this regard, thereby permitting individuals to prove their identity and links to one or more States. 4. Respect the human rights of stateless persons and provide for their specific protection needs Universal human rights standards apply irrespective of possession of a nationality, with only a very limited set of rights reserved for citizens.7 But stateless persons have protection needs distinct from those of other non-citizens. Stateless persons require support in areas where a State of nationality would generally take action, for instance in relation to the issuance of identity and travel documents. Stateless persons who do not enjoy the right to return to and reside in another State should be granted residency and concomitant civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights and have a realistic prospect of acquiring the State’s nationality in the future. Stateless persons are also uniquely vulnerable to prolonged detention and States should be sensitized to respect the rights of stateless persons to be free from arbitrary detention as a result of their stateless status.8 A prerequisite for the protection of stateless persons is ensuring that the State can identify who is stateless and who is not. States are encouraged to establish formalized statelessness determination procedures with due process safeguards for individuals to claim protection as a result of their statelessness status. This is particularly relevant in the migratory context (i.e. where stateless individuals are outside of their country of habitual residence). Most stateless persons reside in the country of their birth or a successor State. But statelessness might result in forced displacement, in particular where it results from arbitrary deprivation of nationality, and many stateless persons do in fact cross an international border and become refugees. When stateless persons are simultaneously refugees, they must be treated as such and afforded the protection foreseen under international refugee law, specifically under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol and the prohibition of non-refoulement in customary international law. The grant of leave to reside within a State and related rights to stateless persons as set out above do not resolve their situation entirely as they are unable to enjoy rights reserved for nationals. Consequently, these protections should be viewed as a temporary solution until such time as the individuals concerned are able to acquire a nationality. 6 See CRC, Article 7. See OHCHR, The Rights of Non-citizens, 2006. 8 In this context, it is also important to note that de facto stateless persons face many of the same protection risks faced by stateless persons. Their situation is akin to that of stateless persons in that there is no State that will provide them with protection. Consequently, it is recommended that the States in which they find themselves extend protection to them until such time as they are able to avail themselves of the protection of their State of nationality. 7 -6-