PRACTICAL GUIDE ON NATIONALITY geographically, distinct group, due to the group’s political origins, its relationship with the population of another state or an otherwise distinct ‘national’ group ( 122). Stateless persons may be eligible for refugee status or for subsidiary protection. However, statelessness is not, as such, a ground to be granted international protection. A stateless applicant will need to fulfil the same substantial conditions as an applicant with a nationality in order to qualify for refugee status or subsidiary protection. They need to have a well-founded fear of persecution (for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group) or be at risk of serious harm in the case of return to their country of origin. A stateless person is not necessarily a refugee ( 123) nor are they necessarily in need of subsidiary protection. This does not preclude that a person who has been determined to be stateless is entitled to benefit from the rights established in the Stateless Persons Convention. Since the ground of nationality is understood in such a broad way, where persecution happens for this reason, it frequently overlaps with other grounds, in particular with that of race and political opinion. In practice, it is therefore often not possible to distinguish whether a person is being persecuted based on the ground of nationality or another ground. There must be a nexus, i.e. a causal link: • between the reason (nationality) and the persecution; or • between the reason (nationality) and the absence of protection against such persecution. In the first case, the applicant’s fear of persecution is linked to their (actual or imputed) nationality. In the second case, the persecution may be for reasons outside the definition of a refugee, but it is tolerated, encouraged or not prevented by the actors of protection due to the applicant’s nationality. Persecution due to nationality can arise in a variety of situations. Below is a non-exhaustive list (non-exhaustive) of situations in which persecution is based on nationality, focusing on situations that are perhaps less obvious than those that would come to mind. • Persecution based on imputed nationality As with other reasons for persecution, the applicant may often not actually possess the alleged ‘national’ characteristics (ethnic, linguistic, etc.) but may be wrongly perceived to do so by the actor of persecution. In this case, persecution would be based on imputed nationality. In practice, international protection claims based on imputed nationality often arise where the persecutor perceives that a minority group identifies with and is loyal to another state (often a neighbouring one) where the same ethnic or linguistic group is present and/or is dominant. (122) H. Storey, The Refugee Definition in International Law, Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2024, pp. 613617; J. Hathaway and M. Foster, The Law of Refugee Status Cambridge University Press, 2014, pp. 397-399. (123) 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, reissued April 2019, HCR/1P/4/ENG/REV. 4, paragraph 102. 77