78. When an applicant raises both a refugee and a statelessness claim, it is important that each claim is assessed and that both types of status are explicitly recognised. This is because protection under the 1951 Convention generally gives rise to a greater set of rights at the national level than that under the 1954 Convention. Nevertheless, there may be instances where refugee status ceases without the person having acquired a nationality, necessitating then international protection as a stateless person. 79. As a stateless person may also be a refugee or be entitled to a complementary form of protection,45 States must ensure that confidentiality requirements for refugees who might also be stateless are upheld in statelessness determination procedures. Every applicant in a statelessness determination procedure is to be informed at the outset of the need to raise refugee-related concerns, should they exist.46 The identity of a refugee or an asylum-seeker must not be disclosed to the authorities of the individual’s country of origin. As discussed below in paragraphs 96-99, statelessness determination officials might be required to make enquiries with foreign authorities regarding applicants, which could compromise the confidentiality to which refugees and asylum-seekers are entitled. When this is the case, refugee status determination is to proceed and consideration of the statelessness claim to be suspended. 80. Where refugee status and statelessness determinations are conducted in separate procedures and a determination of statelessness can be made without contacting the authorities of the country of origin, both procedures may proceed in parallel. However, to maximize efficiency, where findings of fact from one procedure can be used in the other, it may be appropriate to first conduct interviews and to gather and assess country information for the refugee determination procedure. 81. Similarly, in a procedure that combines refugee and statelessness determination and an applicant raises both claims, it is important that the examiner conduct refugee and statelessness determination together.47 If there is insufficient information to conclude that an individual is stateless 45 Please see Executive Committee Conclusion No.103 (LVI) of 2005 on complementary forms of protection, http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/43576e292.html 46 Similarly, applicants for refugee status are to be informed of the possibility of applying for recognition as a stateless person. 47 Refugee status determination requires the identification of either an individual’s country of nationality or, for stateless persons, the country of former habitual residence for the purposes of assessing an individual’s fear of persecution. Please see paragraphs 87-93 and 101-105, UNHCR, Handbook and Guidelines on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status, HCR/1P/4/ENG/REV.3, December 2011, http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4f33c8d92.html 74 - 81 PART TWO C. COORDINATING REFUGEE STATUS AND STATELESSNESS DETERMINATIONS 31

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