policies relating to the protection of stateless persons. They may equally constitute a useful reference point for on-going engagement with the Irish authorities on the issue of statelessness determination in Ireland. UNHCR notes that in response to parliamentary question5 the Minister for Justice and Equality stated: “Ireland is not unusual in so far as it does not have a specific procedure for determining statelessness claims. Of the nearly eighty countries to have ratified the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons only a small fraction (including only four EU countries - Spain, Latvia, Hungary and UK) have put in place specific determination procedures for non-protection statelessness claims. While the position adopted by other jurisdictions clearly does not determine the actions that Ireland might take in this area, some caution is nonetheless necessary to avoid a situation where Ireland, as a small country, could become a destination for stateless persons seeking access to a determination process. I have no immediate plans to introduce a formal determination procedure but will keep the matter under review, having regard also to developments in other jurisdictions and the nature of their determination procedures.” Together with the Immigrant Council of Ireland, UNHCR will host a National Conference on Statelessness in Ireland on 21 October 2014. At the event, international and national experts will provide an update on recent developments in relation to statelessness in Europe and discuss the current position in Ireland. Recommendations for addressing statelessness in Ireland will also be considered. UNHCR notes that the recent Statement of Government priorities 2014-2016 includes a commitment to introduce a separate Protection Bill to establish a single application procedure for the investigation of all grounds for protection. The heads of bill are due to be published in the near future.6 UNHCR would encourage the State to consider the possibility of using this opportunity or other opportunities arising in the context of the review of asylum procedures and policies being undertaken this year to address the lack of a statelessness determination procedure in Ireland. 1. What is statelessness? UNHCR estimates that there are approximately 10 million stateless persons worldwide7. Statelessness occurs when an individual is not considered a national by any state under the operation of its law.8 Statelessness can arise in a number of circumstances: 5 http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/debates%20authoring/DebatesWebPack.nsf/takes/dail201406120006 2#WRR00375 6 “I will have heads of the Bill to Government within two to three weeks and we will progress that legislation in the coming months. It will probably be Easter 2015 by the time we get to implement it. Effectively, this means new arrivals will be dealt with within a year or a year and a half at the maximum. That will make a significant difference.”, PQ, 24 September 2014: http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/debates%20authoring/debateswebpack.nsf/takes/dail2014092400004 ?opendocument#B00450 7 UNHCR Global Trends 2013: War's Human Cost, 20 June 2014, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/53a3df694.html [accessed 16 October 2014] Page 3 of 26