PRACTICAL GUIDE ON NATIONALITY religion ( 124)) as well as on subjective factors whereby an individual identifies as belonging to a national or ethnic, religious or linguistic minority group ( 125). The rights of minorities may be formally recognised and protected by the national legal framework in their country of origin. However, in practice members of minorities may suffer from discrimination and, possibly, persecution. Conversely, minorities may enjoy the same rights as other groups in practice, despite not being granted a formal protective or minority status in their country of origin’s legal framework. While persecution for reasons of nationality more often affects demographic minorities, it can also target a national majority in a country. As stated by UNHCR: Whereas in most cases persecution for reason of nationality is feared by persons belonging to a national minority, there have been many cases in various continents where a person belonging to a majority group may fear persecution by a dominant minority ( 126). • Intersection with the other Refugee Convention grounds The ground of nationality often intersects with that of ‘political opinion’, for instance where a certain ethnic or linguistic group has a common political history or is associated with a political movement. Members of a such a group may be falsely accused of adhering to a separatist movement that seeks territorial unity with a neighbouring state simply by virtue of their ethnicity or language. Or a group may be viewed as a separate ‘national’ group due to having been favoured by or associated with a former colonial power in the past. Moreover, when individuals, themselves as members of a national minority, are politically active to defend their community’s rights, they may face persecution based on both the ground of nationality and expressing their political opinion. Since both the grounds of ‘nationality’ and ‘race’ include an aspect of ethnic identity, those grounds of persecution often overlap. Membership of an ethnic group can be based on many factors, such as a shared ancestry, dialect, folklore or physical appearance, which can also fall under the wider definition of nationality. For the same reasons, ‘nationality’ may intersect with ‘members of a particular social group’. Lastly, ‘nationality’ can also overlap with the ground of religion, for instance if persons of a given nationality also follow a common religious belief which is different from the rest of society. (124) Note that the issue of international protection claims by religious minorities would normally fall under the ground of ‘religion’ although there may be overlaps with other grounds, including nationality. For more details, consult EUAA, Practical Guide on Interviewing Applicants with Religion-based Asylum Claims, November 2022. (125) UN, ‘Minorities – inclusion NOT stereotyping’, United Nations website, undated, accessed 22 October 2024, https://www.un.org/en/fight-racism/vulnerable-groups/minorities; https://www.un.org/en/fightracism/vulnerable-groups/minorities. (126) UNHCR, Handbook on procedures and criteria for determining refugee status and guidelines on international protection under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, HCR/1P/4/ENG/REV. 4, reissued in 2019, paragraph 76. 79