A) Definition of “de facto statelessness” 1. De facto statelessness has traditionally been linked to the notion of effective nationality 4 and some participants were of the view that a person’s nationality could be ineffective inside as well as outside of his or her country of nationality. Accordingly, a person could be de facto stateless even if inside his or her country of nationality. However, there was broad support from other participants for the approach set out in the discussion paper prepared for the meeting which defines a de facto stateless person on the basis of one the principal functions of nationality in international law, the provision of protection by a State to its nationals abroad. 2. The definition is as follows: de facto stateless persons are persons outside the country of their nationality who are unable or, for valid reasons, are unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country. Protection in this sense refers to the right of diplomatic protection exercised by a State of nationality in order to remedy an internationally wrongful act against one of its nationals, as well as diplomatic and consular protection and assistance generally, including in relation to return to the State of nationality. 3. It was agreed that there are many de facto stateless persons who are not refugees, contrary to the presumption that was widely held in the past. While refugees who formally possess a nationality are de facto stateless, participants indicated that it was not useful to refer to them as such because this could create confusion. 4. It was also agreed that a person who is stateless in the sense of Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention cannot be simultaneously de facto stateless. B) Valid reasons for being unwilling to avail oneself of protection 5. The existing universal and regional refugee protection instruments reflect the current consensus of States on what constitute “valid reasons” for refusing the protection of one’s country of nationality. 5 Persons who refuse the protection of the country of their nationality when it is available and who do not fall under one or more of the aforementioned instruments are not de facto stateless. 6. Persons who do fall within the scope of the aforementioned instruments should be granted the protection foreseen by those instruments, rather than any lesser form of protection that a particular State may decide to accord to de facto stateless persons generally. 4 The Final Act of the 1961 Convention links the two when it recommends that “persons who are stateless de facto should as far as possible be treated as stateless de jure to enable them to acquire an effective nationality”. 5 See, in particular, the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1969 Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, the 1984 Cartagena Declaration on Refugees, and Council Directive 2004/83/EC of the European Union on minimum standards for the qualification and status of third country nationals or stateless persons as refugees or as persons who otherwise need international protection and the content of the protection granted. 6