There are also administrative causes of statelessness in Kenya, which demonstrate that there is a difference between law and actual practice. A sample of respondents interviewed showed that individuals may be at risk of becoming stateless as a result of the faulty operation or under-regulated nature of Kenya’s administrative practices concerning citizenship. For instance, there are no adequate regulations that guide the vetting process that certain ethnic groups in Kenya are subjected to. Literature Review A body of literature has developed that evaluates various aspects of statelessness. In existence are works that examine the legislative history of the Statelessness Convention34 and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.35 Data generated by these studies are useful for a number of reasons. The evolution of the law offers insights into the social and political context from which the concept of protecting stateless persons developed. This account could also enable one to appreciate current challenges facing the international protection regime. Moreover, a historical analysis provides insight into measures that could be taken to meet the plight facing stateless persons. The lessons of history serve to remind us from where we came and of the road ahead, as well as the possible consequences of the measures taken. 36 Legal protection of stateless persons remains a central issue.37 Like any individual, persons who are stateless have needs that must be met for them to enjoy the rights due to any human being. A wide range of literature in this area of study has thus focused on issues surrounding the formal protection of stateless persons. Several questions have been raised in this regard. These include: Who is a stateless person?38 What causes statelessness?39 Do those who have been categorized as stateless have any rights?40 See, for instance: Nehemiah Robinson, ‘Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons: Its History and Interpretation’, available at http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4785f03d2.html (accessed: 22 August 2009); Carol Batchelor, ‘Stateless Persons: Some Gaps in International Protection’, (1995) 7 International Journal of Refugee Law 231. 35 See Paul Weis, ‘The United Nations Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, 1961’, (1962) 11 International and Comparative Law Quarterly 1073. 36 Edwin Abuya, ‘Past Reflections, Future Insights: African Asylum Law and Policy in Historical Perspective’, (2007) 19 International Journal of Refugee Law 51 at 53. 37 UNHCR Executive Committee Conclusion No. 106 (LVII) – 2006, refers to the four areas of activities that comprise a comprehensive response to the statelessness phenomenon. These are activities related to the identification, prevention, protection and reduction of statelessness. 38 See, for example: UNHCR, ‘Nationality and Statelessness: A Handbook for Parliamentarians’, available at http://www.unhcr.org/protect/PROTECTION/436774c62.pdf (accessed: 20 August 2009) at 17-20; Linda Kerber, ‘Toward a History of Statelessness in America’, (2005) 57 American Quarterly 727; Paul Magocsi, ‘Mapping Stateless Peoples: The East Slavs of the Carpathians’, (1997) 39 Canadian Slavonic Papers 301. 39 See, for example: Richard Bernstein, ‘Hannah Arendt on the Stateless’, (2005) 11 Parallax 46; William Samore, ‘Statelessness as a Consequence of the Conflict of Nationality Laws’, (1951) 45 American Journal of International Law 476. 34 6 OUT OF THE SHADOWS TOWARDS ENSURING THE RIGHTS OF STATELESS PERSONS AND PERSONS AT RISK OF STATELESSNESS IN KENYA