Palestinians have been required to provide a certificate from UNRWA, stateless persons of Palestinian or Syrian origin with travel documents issued by other countries have been required to show that it is impossible for them to return to a country of former residence, Bedoons from Kuwait or Algeria have been required to show they are recognised as stateless persons in a country of former residence, and people who have been presumed to have the nationality of their country of origin have been required to provide evidence that they are not recognised as nationals. 38. Stateless persons may be granted a tolerated stay permit in the context of return proceedings, for example in the case of refused asylum-seekers who declared themselves to be stateless at the beginning of the asylum procedure (and this wasn’t disputed during the procedure) and in cases where the countries of origin/residence have failed to recognise the person’s nationality (although this practice has not been encountered recently). In border procedures, statelessness can be considered if a person declares their statelessness.38 In practice, this is accepted until proven otherwise. 39. Although statelessness may come up as a legally relevant fact in procedures requiring the determination of nationality, such as asylum, tolerated stay or return procedures, none of them are tailored to make a determination of statelessness nor lead to protection on the grounds of statelessness. This significantly hinders stateless people’s access to and enjoyment of the full range of rights afforded to them by the 1954 Convention. Issue 3 – The protection of stateless people previously living in Ukraine General background to stateless people fleeing Ukraine 40. Stateless people and people at risk of statelessness previously living in Ukraine may face violations of their human rights in Romania if not adequately protected.39 To prevent discrimination related to race, ethnicity, or sex, and to protect against human trafficking and other exploitation, it is imperative that national authorities identify all stateless persons fleeing the war in Ukraine and grant them protection, including Temporary Protection.40 If it does not take additional measures to identify and protect stateless persons arriving in Romania from Ukraine, Romania will not be able to fulfil its obligations under international treaties, including the Trafficking Protocol, CERD, CEDAW, or under the ECHR (Articles 3 and 8). 41. In 2021, UNHCR estimated that 35,875 people in Ukraine were stateless or had ‘undetermined nationality’. However, only 6,047 stateless people were legally residing in Ukraine at the end of 2021, partly due to the fact that Ukraine only has an operational statelessness determination procedure since May 2021.41 The World Bank recently estimated that almost a million Ukrainians are without a national identity card and proof of citizenship. Populations affected by or at risk of statelessness in Ukraine include (but 38 Articles 82-87 of Law 122/2006. See ENS, Country briefing on Romania, Information for stateless people and those at risk of statelessness fleeing Ukraine, May 2022, available at: https://www.statelessness.eu/statelessness-ukraine-crisis. 40 ENS, Briefing no 3: Protection gaps for stateless refugees from Ukraine, June 2022: https://www.statelessness.eu/sites/default/files/2022-06/ENS_BRIEFING_3-Protection-gaps-for-stateless_June-2022.pdf; and La Strada International and The Freedom Fund, Preventing human trafficking of refugees from Ukraine: A rapid assessment of risks and gaps in the anti-trafficking response, May 2022: https://freedomfund.org/wpcontent/uploads/UkraineAntiTraffickingReport_2022_05_10.pdf. 41 Ibid. 39 10