stateless persons who were refugees as set out in paragraph 6 (A) (II) of the UNHCR Statute and Article 1 (A) (2) of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. This mandate has since been widened by a series of General Assembly Resolutions, in particular Resolutions 50/152 of 1995 and 61/137 of 2006 entrusting UNHCR with responsibility for stateless persons generally. UNHCR’s responsibilities extend to the identification, prevention and reduction of statelessness, and the protection of stateless persons. The content of this Handbook was first published in 2012 in the form of three UNHCR Guidelines concerned, respectively, with the definition of a stateless person, procedures for determination of statelessness and the status of stateless persons under national law.* In replacing these Guidelines, the text of the Handbook replicates their content with only minimal changes, principally to address duplication and to update references to UNHCR publications. Minor gaps identified since publication of the Guidelines have also been addressed. This Handbook, like the Guidelines, results from a series of expert consultations conducted in the context of the 50th Anniversary of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.† It does not consider prevention and reduction of statelessness; these are dealt with instead in separate Guidelines. This Handbook is intended to guide government officials, judges and practitioners, as well as UNHCR staff and others involved in addressing statelessness. It is hoped that the Handbook will provide a valuable resource for both statelessness determination and the development and implementation of law and policies relating to the protection of stateless persons. Volker Türk Director Division of International Protection Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Geneva, June 2014 2 * Please see UNHCR, Guidelines on Statelessness No. 1: The definition of “Stateless Person” in Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, 20 February 2012, HCR/GS/12/01, http://www.refworld.org/docid/4f4371b82.html; UNHCR, Guidelines on Statelessness No. 2: Procedures for Determining whether an Individual is a Stateless Person, 5 April 2012, HCR/GS/12/02, http://www.refworld.org/docid/4f7dafb52.html; and UNHCR, Guidelines on Statelessness No. 3: The Status of Stateless Persons at the National Level, 17 July 2012, HCR/GS/12/03, http://www.refworld.org/docid/5005520f2.html † Please see UNHCR, Expert Meeting - The Concept of Stateless Persons under International Law (“Prato Conclusions”), May 2010, http://www.refworld.org/docid/4ca1ae002.html; and UNHCR, Expert Meeting - Statelessness Determination Procedures and the Status of Stateless Persons (“Geneva Conclusions”), December 2010, http://www.refworld.org/docid/4d9022762.html