THE RISK OF STATELESSNESS 60 YALE HUMAN RIGHTS & DEVELOPMENT L.J. 2017 [Vol. 19 protocol on stateless persons.73 The Conference adopted and opened for signature the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951 Convention), but recommended that the question of a draft protocol be referred back to the U.N. for further study.74 Ultimately, after reconsideration of the statelessness problem, a U.N. Conference resolved to adopt a separate Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons in 1954 (1954 Convention).75 The 1954 Convention spoke of statelessness in terms of human rights, utilizing the Preamble to contextualize the Convention not only as a companion to the Refugee Convention but also as an upshot of human rights protection envisioned in the UDHR.76 Like the 1951 Convention, the 1954 Convention included a framework to assist states in defining the juridical status of stateless persons, as well as establishing criteria for access to employment and public services.77 In essence, these two Conventions provided the means to settle the vast “unprotected” population that had been displaced by the Second World War and was seeking legal stability. Perhaps the most notable contribution of the Convention was to provide an international law definition of “stateless person” as one who is “not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law.”78 However, the 1954 Convention did envision the group of stateless persons protected as somewhat limited. Specifically, only those who are not nationals under the operation of the nationality laws of any country are stateless persons protected under the Convention.79 As commentators have observed, this leaves out any number of “unprotected” people who suffer severe and sustained rights deprivation but cannot demonstrate the negative proposition that no country’s law operates to provide them with nationality.80 Perhaps more significant than the limitations on the definition were the limitations in application that arose from a low level of ratification. By 1961, when the 1951 Convention had twenty-five parties, the 1954 Convention had just seven.81 The practical effect of this was that many more countries took on the international legal obligation to protect refugees than those that 73. Id. at 3 (citing G.A. Res. 429(V) (Dec. 19, 1950)). 74. Id.; Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, opened for signature July 28, 1951, 189 U.N.T.S. 137 [hereinafter 1951 Convention]. 75. See Goodwin-Gill, supra note 70, at 4. 76. 1954 Convention, supra note 10, pmbl. 77. See id. arts. 12-24. 78. UNHCR, Introductory Note to the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, at 3, http://www.unhcr.org/ibelong/wp-content/uploads/1954-Conventionrelating-to-the-Status-of-Stateless-Persons_ENG.pdf [https://perma.cc/BZ3J-4PHP] (quoting 1954 Convention, supra note 10, art. 1(1)). 79. 1954 Convention, supra note 10, art. 1(1). 80. See, e.g., LAURA VAN WAAS, NATIONALITY MATTERS: STATELESSNESS UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW 19-27 (2008). 81. See UNTC, Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General, Chapter V: Refugees and Stateless Persons, 3. Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/MTDSG/Volume%20I/Chapter%20V/V-3.en.pdf [https://perma.cc/ERR4-7AG4] [hereinafter Status of the 1954 Convention]. Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3111529