considers sympathetically the possibility of according to that person the treatment which the Convention accords to stateless persons.129 The scope of the 1961 Statelessness Convention is also limited to de jure stateless persons. It was once again assumed by the drafters that de facto stateless persons would be refugees who would enjoy protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention and thus fall under UNHCR’s mandate.130 The Convention’s Final Act includes a recommendation similar to, but broader than, the recommendation included in the 1954 Stateless Persons Convention.131 States have the discretion to determine under their own law who will be recognized as stateless persons in accordance with the definition set out in the 1954 Stateless Persons Convention. States may decide to extend the benefits of the Convention to de facto stateless persons. The 1954 Stateless Persons Convention offers stateless persons the most basic guarantees necessary to conduct a stable life. The standard of treatment prescribed for stateless persons is similar to the one applied to refugees, except for the right of association and the right to employment, for which the standard of treatment accorded to stateless persons is lower than the one accorded to refugees, who are entitled to most-favored-nation treatment.132 The 1961 Statelessness Convention includes provisions on the acquisition of nationality (Articles 1–4),such as “[a] contracting state shall grant its nationality to a person born in its territory who would otherwise be stateless” (Article 1); on loss, renunciation or deprivation of nationality (Articles 5–9), such as “[a] contracting state may not deprive any person or group of persons of their nationality on racial, ethnic, religious or political grounds” (Article 9); and a provision on nationality in the case of transfer of territory (Article 10).133 Persons (including stateless Palestinian refugees) whose refugee status is recognized under the 1951 Refugee Convention are covered by that Convention. However, persons whose refugee status is not recognized under the 1951 Refugee Convention, including stateless Palestinian refugees who are not recognized under Article 1D, are eligible for the protection of the 1954 Stateless Persons Convention, as long as they are not “at present receiving [protection or assistance] from organs 129 22 United Nations, “Final Act of the United Nations Conference on the Status of Stateless Persons” (Treaty Series, vol. 360, p. 117, September 28, 1954), Treaty No. 1:5158, full text available at http:// www.ehu.es/ceinik/tratados/16TRATADOSSOBREREFUGIADOS/161RefugiadosApatridasyAsilo/ TR1615ING.pdf, item 3. 130 Batchelor, “Stateless Persons,” 250. 131 Ibid., 258. 132 BADIL, Closing Protection Gaps: A Handbook on Protection of Palestinian Refugees in States Signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention, I (Bethlehem, Palestine: BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, 2005), 121, http://www.BADIL.org/en/lawyersresources/itemlist/category/206-2005handbook. 133 Ibid., 122. Handbook on Protection of Palestinian Refugees