Finally, over 10 different requests for information on stateless cases were directed to NGOs providing legal information and legal assistance as well as other forms of assistance to migrants, undocumented migrants, victims of human trafficking, asylum-seekers and refugees. 6 answers were received and analyzed. 1.2 Statelessness across the globe 1.2.1 Defining ‘a stateless person’ According to Article 1 of the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons,9 a stateless person is a person who is not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law. The definition of a stateless person as set forth in the 1954 Convention is recognized as part of customary international law.10 1.2.2 Causes of statelessness The right to a nationality is a fundamental human right, enshrined in Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) as well as other international and regional human rights instruments.11 Nevertheless, statelessness exists and remains a concern of the international community. The causes of statelessness vary and include gaps in and conflicts between nationality laws, discrimination, state succession, arbitrary deprivation of nationality and administrative barriers. STATE SUCCESSION Dissolution of states, unification of states, states’ secession and independence often resulting from international and/or internal conflicts and coupled with border changes, are significant causes of statelessness that may affect large populations. Whether statelessness occurs depends on the nationality laws of both the predecessor and the successor states and often relates to the lack of the possibility to confirm a valid link with the successor state.12 9 UN General Assembly, Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, 28 September 1954, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 360, p. 117, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3840.html 10 UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, 30 June 2014, para. 13, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/53b676aa4.html 11 See, e.g., International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 2, 3, 24), Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 7, 8), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Article 9), International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Article 1, 5), International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Article 18), African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (Article 6), American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man (Article XIX), American Convention on Human Rights (Article 1, 20), Arab Charter on Human Rights (Article 29). 12 Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, The World’s Stateless, December 2014, available at: http://www.institutesi.org/worldsstateless.pdf UNHCR POLAND, SEPTEMBER 2019 11