54 Bittoni Cuban territory, Cuban migrants are not allowed to return to Cuba.8 The majority of Italian judges have declared these Cuban migrants stateless, even if Cuban authorities continue to consider them as national. This article is aimed to reflect upon the usefulness of a wide concept of statelessness and of its recognition within the EU Member States. 2 The Definition of Statelessness Article 1 of the 1954 Convention defines a stateless person as: ‘a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law’. People who fall within the scope of Article 1 are commonly referred to as de jure stateless persons.9 On the contrary, an agreed international definition of de facto statelessness does not exist.10 During the Expert Meeting of Prato, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (hereinafter: UNHCR) suggested the following definition for de facto stateless persons: [they] are persons outside the country of their nationality who are unable or, for valid reasons, are unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country. Protection in this sense refers to the right of diplomatic protection exercised by a State of nationality in order to remedy an internationally wrongful act against one of its nationals, as well as diplomatic and consular protection and assistance generally, including in relation to return to the State of nationality.11 Nevertheless, the concept of de facto statelessness and the usefulness of this term remain widely debated.12 8 9 10 11 12 On January 2013, a new Cuban regulation extended the permission to stay outside the country to 24 months. UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on Statelessness No. 1: The definition of “Stateless Person” in Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons’ (2012) HCR/GS/12/01. UNHCR, ‘Expert Meeting - The Concept of Stateless Persons under International Law (“Prato Conclusions”)’ (2010) <http://www.refworld.org/docid/4ca1ae002.html> accessed 27 September 2013. Ibid. UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on Statelessness No. 2: Procedures for Determining whether an Individual is a Stateless Person’ (2012) HCR/GS/12/02. As regards the use of the term ‘de facto statelessness’ see: Laura van Waas, Nationality Matters. Statelessness under International Law (Intersentia 2008) 27. In particular, the author points out that ‘the continued use of the term “de facto statelessness” (…) may be counterproductive since it has tilburg law review 19 (2014) 52-63