2019 B Statelessness & Citizenship Review 1(1) De Lege Lata Protection Possibilities for an Externally Displaced Island Population Without any state practice, the scenario of disappearing island states raises many unsettled questions. At the core is the question of how to protect and guarantee human rights of externally displaced islanders. Rising sea levels will most likely jeopardise the protection of various human rights, including civil rights (eg the right to life), as well as many socio-economic rights such as the right to health, housing or the right to work. 122 For the purpose of determining the various protection possibilities in the case of disappearing island states, different protection regimes — their applicability essentially depending on whether the population is considered stateless or not — will be illustrated below. It is important to highlight that the question of whether displaced islanders fall under the relevant protection regimes goes hand in hand with the question of whether their rights can be effectively enforced. 1 The 1954 and 1961 Statelessness Conventions To begin with, it should be quickly re-emphasised that only a ‘stateless person’ may enjoy the protection of both Conventions on Statelessness. Whether the population of a disappearing state will be considered as de jure or de facto stateless, will ultimately depend on the will of the international community to continue to recognise islands as states once they are submerged. Only with regard to de jure stateless persons, ratifying states will have to fulfil the obligations set out in the Conventions on Statelessness. However, as illustrated above, states may still decide to follow the recommendations of the Final Acts to the Statelessness Conventions, which suggest to treat de facto stateless people as far as possible as de jure stateless people. 123 If the population of former island states was to fall under the definition of stateless people, they would benefit from the protection regime provided under the 1954 Convention. 124 This would entitle them to enjoy a range of human rights aimed at improving their status in the host state. 125 For instance, the 1954 Convention incorporates a set of civil rights such as the freedom to practice religion (art 4), access to courts (art 16) and the right of association (art 15). 126 Stateless persons also enjoy the right of freedom of movement, which is contained in art 26. 127 Moreover, the 1954 Convention contains several economic and social rights, which are necessary for every person to live a minimally decent life. 128 Of 122 McAdam, Climate Change, Forced Migration (n 29) 52. 123 Stoutenburg (n 11) 427–28; Final Act of the 1954 Convention (n 29); Final Act of the 1961 Convention (n 32). For more details, see Part II. 124 Note, however, that there are also scholars who apply such a narrow reading of art 1 of the 125 126 127 128 1954 Convention so as to consider de jure statelessness only in cases where states actually withdraw nationalities from people. This understanding would lead to the conclusion that although the island state ceases to exist, its population would not be considered to fall under the definition of art 1 of the 1954 Convention: Walter Kälin, ‘Conceptualising ClimateInduced Displacement’ in Jane McAdam (ed), Climate Change and Displacement. Multidisciplinary Perspectives (Bloomsbury 2010) 92; Stoutenburg (n 11) 404–5. Foster and Lambert (n 22) 566. van Waas (n 15) 73. 1954 Convention (n 3) art 26. Belton (n 36) 226, 228. 58