126 Gábor Gyulai 3. Effective determination of statelessness. Any protection measure requires the proper identification of those entitled to it.35 Below I set out a broader overview of challenges and responses with regard to this process. 4. Providing for a proper protection status. Stateless persons are entitled to a set of rights under the 1954 Convention and international human rights instruments. The most effective way to ensure these rights for those identified as stateless is the creation of a specific protection status, which can also be crucial in enhancing visibility as mentioned in point 2 above. At the same time, alternative solutions are also possible (where stateless persons gain an entitlement to an already existing, broader or more generous legal status, e.g. permanent residence permit).36 In any case, the status granted should be protection-oriented, should reflect the enduring protection needs of stateless persons and, as such, should provide meaningful possibilities for social integration. 5. Offering a route to a durable solution. Stateless persons, like refugees, require a durable solution, beyond their immediate or mid-term protection needs. UNHCR distinguishes three durable solutions for refugees, namely: voluntary repatriation, local integration in the country of first asylum and resettlement in a third country. These solutions are deemed durable, as they put an end to the ‘refugee cycle’37 and thus the need for international protection. Applying this thinking to statelessness, one can only identify a single durable solution: the acquisition of a nationality. A protection status designed for stateless persons may offer a broad set of rights and a number of social entitlements, yet it will never provide a veritable exit from the ‘statelessness cycle’. Besides the likely disadvantages of this status vis-à-vis holding the nationality of the country of residence, one should also not underestimate the psychological factor of belonging to, or being excluded from, a political, 35 36 37 Cf. Geneva Conclusions, para. 1; UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on Statelessness No. 2: Procedures for Determining whether an Individual is a Stateless Person’, para. 1. The line between these two scenarios may sometimes be blurred and mixed solutions are also possible. In Hungary, for instance, stateless persons are issued a humanitarian residence permit, which determines the majority of the rights they enjoy (e.g. legal residence, restricted access to the labour market or right to family reunification). However, statelessness – as a legal ground – is specified on the residence permit and entails some entitlements that are specific to stateless status (e.g. the maximum validity of the permit upon first issuance is longer than in other cases). See inter alia R. Black and K. Koser, ‘The End of the Refugee Cycle?’ in R. Black and K. Koser (eds.), The End of the Refugee Cycle? Refugee Repatriation and Reconstruction (Oxford: Berghahn Books, 1999), 2–17. 9781107032446c05_p116-143.indd 126 6/16/2014 3:12:02 PM