registration can put people at risk of statelessness as a birth certificate provides proof of where a person was born and of parentage – key information needed to establish a nationality.16 Stateless refugee A stateless person can also meet the definition of a refugee.17 In that case, the stateless refugee is protected by the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and should be treated in accordance with international refugee law. It is important nonetheless to seek to address the person’s statelessness, as there may be instances where refugee status ceases without the person having acquired a nationality, which would then necessitate protection as a stateless person. Moreover, the statelessness of a refugee may have consequences for him/her as well as his/her children. Detention For the purpose of this tool, “detention” refers to the deprivation of liberty or confinement in a closed place which a person is not permitted to leave at will, including, though not limited to, prisons or purpose-built detention, closed reception or holding centres or facilities. The place of detention may be administered either by public authorities or private contractors; the confinement may be authorised by an administrative or judicial procedure. The person may have been confined with or without “lawful” authority.18 16 See UNHCR, Action to Address Statelessness: A Strategy Note, March 2010, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/4b9e0c3d2.html. 17 A refugee is any person who owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it. Article 1 of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. See Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/3b66c2aa10. 18 See UNHCR Detention Guidelines, page 9. A tool for their identification and enhanced protection 11