PRACTICAL GUIDE ON NATIONALITY This provision is rarely applied as only in few exceptional circumstances would an applicant hold the rights and obligations conferred with a nationality without actually holding the nationality of that country. Such cases have occurred in the past. For example, where a country intended to confer its nationality to a particular category of people closely related to it and provided them with rights and obligations equivalent to those of nationals as a transitory measure before nationality was granted ( 101). However, the (possible) acquisition of nationality is not a condition to apply this exclusion ground. Below are some considerations in relation to the application of this provision. • The applicant should have taken up residence in the country at hand, which implies more than a mere temporary or short-term stay. • The notion of ‘country’ necessarily amounts to a national state, as only a state may confer a nationality. • The applicant should not have a well-founded fear of persecution in that country. • The applicant should be protected against deportation and expulsion and the principle of non-refoulement should be respected by the country at hand. • The ‘rights and obligations which are attached to the possession of the nationality of that country or equivalent rights and obligations’ may include the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of nationals, thus opening the possibility for the applicant to enjoy rights equivalent to those of nationals. The rights need not be wholly identical: some minor variations could occur, for example in relation to the access to certain sensitive public positions or to military obligations. • The rights and obligations should be recognised by the country. • The country should allow the applicant to leave and return. UNHCR Guidance on the interpretation of Article 1E Refugee Convention For further information on the interpretation of this exclusion ground, consult UNHCR, Note on the Interpretation of Article 1E of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, March 2009. (101) UNHCR, Note on the Interpretation of Article 1E of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, March 2009, paragraph 3. 65