78 Brad K. Blitz unhcr’s data on stateless people The UNHCR currently reports that it has “data” on some 4,161,980 stateless people but admits that “the true global figure is estimated to be significantly higher.”33 It has also recently recognized limitations with its method of calculation: However, this [global] figure is not based on robust or transparent demographic methods and, as a result, its use to track progress on reducing statelessness and for policy, programming, or advocacy purposes is limited . . .. [M]ore is required to capacitate member states and coordinate data collection to estimate the number of stateless persons within their territory.34 Nonetheless, it claims to have reliable data for seventy-eight countries. These aforementioned claims warrant further examination. Who Is Stateless? And Where Do They Live? Until 2019, it was unclear if UNHCR’s data only referred to de jure stateless people, those described as falling under their mandate, or if they also captured de facto stateless individuals and persons with indeterminate nationality.35 While the term “de facto” no longer features prominently in UNHCR documents, UNHCR’s website states that the agency is now considering both de jure stateless people and those with indeterminate nationality.36 In its 2020 report to UNHCR Standing Committee, which reviews UNHCR’s activities and programs, the agency recorded that it used mixed data types to estimate figures of stateless people but did not elaborate: “[The table] [r]efers to persons who are not considered as nationals by any State under the operation of its law . . .. but data from some countries may also include persons with undetermined nationality.”37 Second, UNHCR’s approach to working with data on those of “indeterminate nationality” introduces other practical considerations, including the presumption that states will provide accurate and impartial information and are prepared to recognize links to other countries. “UNHCR uses the working definition of a person who lacks proof of possession of any nationality and who at the same time has or is perceived as having links to a State other than the one he/she is living in.”38 Not only does this approach defer to states’ cooperation, but it also discounts the possibility 33 See UNHCR, Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2018, www.unhcr.org/5d08d7ee7.pdf, p. 51. 34 L. Chen et al., UNHCR Statistical Reporting on Statelessness (October 2019), www.unhcr.org/ statistics/unhcrstats/5d9e182e7/unhcr-statistical-reporting-statelessness.html. 35 UNHCR Executive Committee, Update on Budgets and Funding (2019, 2020–2021), p. 27. 36 See UNHCR, “Refugee Data Finder – Methodology,” www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/meth odology/. 37 UNHCR Executive Committee, Update on Budgets and Funding (2019, 2020–2021). 38 Ibid. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108914994 Published online by Cambridge University Press