3.5 Conclusions The above observations lead to the conclusion that the normative framework currently in force in Poland may severely limit or prevent access of stateless persons to their fundamental human rights, thereby rendering them in an extremely vulnerable situation. Without the possibility to legalize their stay, they cannot benefit from social assistance, work legally, study or get married. Importantly, even stateless persons with tolerated stay do not have access to certain fundamental rights, including the right to social assistance and to a travel document. Even if stateless persons manage to regularize their stay through a tolerated stay permit, they will remain unable to receive a permission to settle in Poland and naturalize. Situation of those who were granted a permit for stay based on humanitarian grounds is somehow better. Additionally, during the pending proceedings for tolerated stay, the applicant’s stay in Poland is perceived as irregular and, in this period, no specific rights are granted. Most stateless persons attempting to regularize their stay via this process will also be faced with detention for the duration of the proceedings. UNHCR’s Handbook lists a set of rights that are dependent on the type of connection between stateless persons and the host country. It is, therefore, important to not only introduce a statelessness determination procedure in Poland but to also ensure that the latter provides for a legal status for stateless persons on the basis of their statelessness. Moreover, the Handbook underlines the need to interpret the 1954 Convention in accordance with the 1951 Convention (especially vis-à-vis the status of asylum-seekers), due to the close relation between the two treaties.103 103 38 UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, cited above, para. 125. MAPPING STATELESSNESS IN POLAND