Distr. GENERAL HCR/GS/20/05 May 2020 Original: English GUIDELINES ON STATELESSNESS NO.5: Loss and Deprivation of Nationality under Articles 5-9 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness UNHCR issues these Guidelines pursuant to its mandate responsibilities to address statelessness. These responsibilities were initially limited to stateless persons who were refugees as set out in paragraph 6(A)(II) of the UNHCR Statute and Article 1(A)(2) of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. To undertake the functions foreseen by Articles 11 and 20 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, UNHCR’s mandate was expanded to cover persons falling under the terms of that Convention by General Assembly Resolutions 3274 (XXIX) of 1974 and 31/36 of 1976. The Office was entrusted with responsibilities for stateless persons generally under UNHCR Executive Committee Conclusion 78, which was endorsed by the General Assembly in Resolution 50/152 of 1995. Subsequently, in Resolution 61/137 of 2006, the General Assembly endorsed Executive Committee Conclusion 106 which sets out four broad areas of responsibility for UNHCR: the identification, prevention and reduction of statelessness and the protection of stateless persons. These Guidelines draw on the Summary Conclusions of the Expert Meeting on Interpreting the 1961 Statelessness Convention and Avoiding Statelessness Resulting from Loss and Deprivation held in Tunis, Tunisia on 31 October-1 November 2013 (“Tunis Conclusions”) and the Expert Meeting on Developments related to Deprivation of Nationality held in Geneva, Switzerland on 5-6 December 2018. They are intended to provide interpretative guidance for governments, NGOs, legal practitioners, decision-makers and the judiciary, as well as for UNHCR staff and other UN agencies involved in addressing statelessness. UNHCR > GUIDELINES ON STATELESSNESS NO.5 1