24. Article 3.2 of the LLSFN states that the law applies to stateless persons. However, the provisions of the LLSFN predominantly relate to "foreign nationals", defined by article 5.1.1 to mean a person who has foreign citizenship, but not Mongolian citizenship. This does not include stateless persons. It is therefore unclear if the provisions of the LLSFN will apply to stateless persons in practice.22 25. Significantly though, Article 18(4) of the Constitution provides that "Foreign citizens or stateless persons persecuted for their beliefs, or political or other activities and who are pursuing justice, may be granted asylum in Mongolia on the basis of their well-founded requests.” The Constitution further provides that “Deprivation of Mongolian citizenship, exile and extradition of Mongolian citizens is prohibited.”23 26. It is to be noted that those who seek citizenship must apply to the President of Mongolia, and therefore, as the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty has noted, a large number of children who lack the resources to make such applications, are denied their right to a nationality and left stateless.24 Minority rights – the risk of statelessness among the Kazakh population 27. Legislative loopholes have rendered members of ethnic minority groups in Mongolia at risk of statelessness. Specifically, those belonging to the Kazakh minority face a high risk of becoming stateless as dual nationality in Mongolia is not permitted.25 28. The UNHCR has reported that thousands of ethnic Kazakh Mongolians renounced their Mongolian nationality upon moving to Kazakhstan in the early 1990s. Not being granted Kazakh citizenship, many returned to Mongolia, now stateless.26 These individuals have since encountered difficulties in the process of acquiring Mongolian nationality. 29. The process of reacquiring Mongolian nationality is long and complicated,27 mostly due to the delay in signing the internal bilateral verification process between the two countries (Mongolia and Kazakhstan).28 The Mongolian Immigration Agency does not consider ethnic Kazakhs to be stateless without a verification from Kazakh authorities that they are not Kazakh citizens while the process of verification by the Kazakh government is protracted.29 The UNHCR has previously recommended enhancing the implementation of relevant laws to address this issue.30 22 Ibid. The Constitution of Mongolia affirms in its Article 15(2) . 24 UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona, - Addendum , 23rd sess., UN Doc A/HRC/23/36/Add.2, (30 May 2013). 25 UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona, - Addendum , 23rd sess., UN Doc A/HRC/23/36/Add.2, (30 May 2013) para. 51. 26 Ibid. 27 Ibid. 28 UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona, - Addendum , 23rd sess., UN Doc A/HRC/23/36/Add.2, (30 May 2013) para. 51. 29 US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, 2010 Country Report on Human Rights issues Mongolia ( 8 April 2011) https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/160094.pdf. 30 Ibid. 23 6