DESK REVIEW ON POPULATIONS AT RISK OF STATELESSNESS of that country.31 A person cannot be considered to be both de jure stateless and de facto stateless at the same time.32 Persons may be unable to avail themselves of the protection of the country of their nationality either because the country of nationality refuses its protection or because the country is unable to provide its protection. On the other hand, valid reasons for a person to be unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of the country of their nationality are those reasons currently recognized by the international and regional refugee regimes, and other human rights frameworks.33 Persons who refuse the protection of the country of their nationality, although it is available to them, and who are not in need of international protection, are not generally considered de jure, nor de facto stateless. The term “de facto stateless” has sometimes been used to describe persons who are actually “de jure stateless.” Particular care should be taken not to label de jure stateless persons as “de facto stateless” because while stateless persons are defined and protected in the 1954 and 1961 Statelessness Conventions, there is no similar legal regime for de facto stateless persons, and therefore, it may provide less, or even no protection in some contexts, and so the utility of the concept may be more limited.34 This report, therefore, avoids the term “de facto stateless,” but this should not be read to imply that there are no persons suffering from de facto statelessness. Some persons who are unable to avail themselves of the protection of their country of nationality may qualify for protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention or other complementary protection regimes, but there may also be situations in which the person falls outside of these protection regimes, but is nevertheless de facto, but not de jure stateless. 31 UNHCR, Expert Meeting - The Concept of Stateless Persons under International Law (“Prato Conclusions”), May 2010, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4ca1ae002.html. UNHCR, Expert Meeting - The Concept of Stateless Persons under International Law (“Prato Conclusions”), May 2010, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4ca1ae002.html (“A person who is stateless in the sense of Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention cannot be simultaneously de facto stateless.”). 32 Refugee Convention, Article 1(A)(2) (“owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, national-ity, membership of a particular social group or political opinion”), Convention Against Torture, Article 3 (“substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.”), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Articles 6 and 7 (threats to the right to life and “torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”). 33 UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, 30 June 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/53b676aa4. html (“Unlike the term “stateless person” as defined in Article 1(1), the term de facto statelessness is not defined in any international instrument and there is no treaty regime specific to this category of persons… Care must be taken that those who qualify as “stateless persons” under Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention are recognised as such and not mistakenly referred to as de facto stateless persons as otherwise they may fail to receive the protection guaranteed under the 1954 Convention.”). 34 16 UNHCR / April 2021