UNHCR, APRIL 2023 REFUGEES FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION the issue of identity documents to refugees and stateless persons; ensuring universal birth registration (with attention to the details that should be recorded in the birth register and/or certificate); the establishment of minimum rights to nationality based on birth in the territory of the country of asylum as well as the possibility of acquisition of nationality based on long-term residence; and the removal of procedural barriers to accessing these rights. In many cases, long-term refugees are known to prefer acquisition of the nationality of the country of asylum, especially those who were born in the country of asylum. But in some contexts, a solution could be confirmation of the nationality of the country of origin of the long-term refugee (or of the child born in the country of asylum), with grant of a permanent residence status in the country of asylum and a route to acquisition of nationality of that country. This section summarises the legal provisions in each of the three countries researched for this study, and their compliance with international standards. It also highlights some situations where international standards do not provide adequate guidance to resolve statelessness or determine nationality. For more detailed analysis of international standards and national legal frameworks in relation to nationality of both the country of origin and of asylum, including more extensive references, see Annexes 3 and 4. Refugee registration and issue of identity documents The UN and OAU refugee conventions establish the criteria to determine if a person is a refugee, and also require countries of asylum to issue identity and travel documents to refugees that recognise them as such. There is long-standing guidance on the implementation of these provisions. 43 For those refugees who hold no identity documentation issued by the country of origin, the refugee identity document may be the only official document they hold that would form the basis of a claim to the nationality of that country. Refugee registration and identity documents are thus critical not only for protection and access to services in the country of asylum, but also for the future prevention of statelessness; or for the recognition and protection of the person as a stateless refugee. The 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons has similar requirements for the issue of identity documents to stateless persons as those estalbished by the 1951 Refugee Convention. UNHCR has also adopted guidance on the protection of stateless persons and establishment of stateless person determination procedures. 44 It is, however, unlikely to be useful to establish a stateless de termination procedure and parallel issue of identity documents for those who are already registered as asylum sekeers or refugees, since no additional rights would be granted to the individuals concerned. However, it may be important to record within the refugee registration that an individual may additionally be at risk of statelessness, in case this becomes relevant for later voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement procedures. All countries in the Great Lakes region, including those surveyed for this report, have national processes to register refugees; most refugees in the region are recognised on a prima facie basis, without an individual refugee status determination procedure. In practice, refugees who are also stateless are rarely or never registered as such (there are some exceptions, but there is no systematic process of review at the time of registration). In DRC, the Carte d'identité pour réfugié is valid for only two years; in Rwanda 43 ‘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)’ UNHCR 2019; ‘Guidance on Registration and Identity Management’, Chapter 5.3: Documentation, UNHCR, 2020 https://www.unhcr.org/registration-guidance/chapter5/documentation/ 44 “Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons under the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons” UNHCR, 2014 https://www.refworld.org/docid/53b676aa4.html; “Good Practice Paper: Action 6 Establishing Statelessness Determination Procedures for the Protection of Stateless Persons” UNHCR, 2020 https://www.refworld.org/docid/5f203d0e4.html. 13