child, obtain an identity document, open a bank account, inherit wealth or get legally married. Such social and economic exclusion renders stateless persons vulnerable to abuse and destitution and many stateless populations belong to the most marginalized and vulnerable groups worldwide. In addition, stateless persons may be detained for prolonged or repeated periods in order to be deported to countries they came from or of former habitual residence, because they have no identity documents and/or are considered to be irregularly in the country. Yet, as non-nationals, none of these countries have the obligation to accept them and so there is nowhere they can be returned to. 2.4 UNHCR’s engagement with statelessness As the organization mandated by the United Nations to protect refugees, UNHCR has been involved in statelessness issues and with stateless persons since it began operations in 1951 due to the number of refugees affected by statelessness.15 In this capacity, UNHCR was involved in the drafting of the 1954 Convention. To undertake the functions foreseen by Articles 11 and 20 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (“1961 Convention”),16 namely to examine the cases of persons who claim the benefit of that Convention and to assist them in presenting their claims to the authorities under Article 11 of that Convention, UNHCR’s mandate was expanded to cover persons falling under the terms of that Convention by General Assembly Resolutions 3274 (XXIX) of 1974 and 31/36 of 1976. The Office was entrusted with responsibilities for stateless persons generally by General Assembly Resolution 50/152 of 1995, which endorsed UNHCR Executive Committee Conclusion 78. Subsequently, in Resolution 61/137 of 2006, the General Assembly endorsed Executive Committee Conclusion 106 which sets out four broad areas of responsibility for UNHCR: the identification, prevention and reduction of statelessness and the protection of stateless persons.17 The fiftieth anniversary of the 1961 Convention in 2011 and the sixtieth anniversary of the 1954 Convention in 2014 provided a renewed impetus for the international community, supported by UNHCR, to address statelessness.18 In November 2014, UNHCR launched a 10-year campaign to end statelessness by 2024 and the accompanying Global Action Plan, which establishes a guiding framework of 10 action to be undertaken by States, with the support of UNHCR and other stakeholders. It seeks greater political commitment to resolve existing major situations of statelessness, to prevent new cases of statelessness from emerging, and to better identify and protect stateless populations.19 14 15 UN General Assembly, Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 14 December 1950, A/RES/428(V), para. 6(A)(ii), available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3628.html; and the 1951 Refugee Convention, Article 1(A)2. Both sources refer to stateless persons who meet the criteria of the refugee definition. 16 UN General Assembly, Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, 30 August 1961, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 989, p. 175, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b39620.html. 17 UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, cited above, para. 4. 18 Including the Ministerial Event in Geneva in December 2011 at which a number of States made pledges. See, UNHCR, Ministerial Intergovernmental Event on Refugees and Stateless Persons – Pledges 2011, October 2012, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/50aca6112.html. 19 UNHCR, Global Action Plan to End Statelessness, 4 November 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/545b47d64.html. Faces of Statelessness in the Czech Republic