HANDBOOK ON PROTECTION OF STATELESS PERSONS UNDER THE 1954 CONVENTION RELATING TO THE STATUS OF STATELESS PERSONS GENEVA, 2014 HANDBOOK ON PROTECTION OF STATELESS PERSONS UNDER THE 1954 CONVENTION RELATING TO THE STATUS OF STATELESS PERSONS GENEVA, 2014 © 2014 UNHCR. All rights reserved for all countries. Contents FOREWORD ............................................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 3 A. BACKGROUND TO THE 1954 CONVENTION ...................................................... 3 B. UNHCR AND STATELESSNESS ........................................................................... 4 C. THE SCOPE OF THE HANDBOOK ....................................................................... 4 D. STATELESSNESS AND DE FACTO STATELESSNESS ............................................................................... 5 E. DETERMINING WHO IS STATELESS .................................................................... 6 F. STATELESSNESS STATUS .................................................................................... 7 PART ONE: CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING STATELESSNESS ................. 9 A. THE DEFINITION ................................................................................................... 9 B. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS ............................................................................ 10 C. INTERPRETION OF TERMS ............................................................................... 11 (1) “by any State” ............................................................................................... 11 (a) Which States need to be examined? ..................................................... 11 (b) What is a “State”? ................................................................................. 11 (2) “not considered as a national … under the operation of its law” ................. 12 (a) Meaning of “law” .................................................................................... 12 (b) When is a person “not considered as a national” under a State’s law and practice?......................................................................... 12 (i) Automatic and non-automatic modes of acquisition or withdrawal of nationality ....................................................................... 13 (ii) Identifying competent authorities ..................................................... 13 (iii) Evaluating evidence of competent authorities in non-automatic modes of nationality acquisition and withdrawal .................................. 14 (iv) Evaluating evidence of competent authorities in automatic modes of citizenship acquisition or loss of nationality ......................... 15 (v) Considerations where State practice contravenes automatic modes of acquisition of nationality ....................................................... 16 (vi) Assessing nationality in the absence of evidence of the position of competent authorities ................................................... 16 (vii) Role of consular authorities ............................................................ 17 (viii) Enquiries with competent authorities ............................................. 17 (ix) Inconsistent treatment by competent authorities ............................ 18 (x) Nationality acquired in error or bad faith .......................................... 18 (xi) Impact of appeal/review proceedings ............................................. 19 (xii) Temporal issues .............................................................................. 20 (xiii) Voluntary renunciation of nationality .............................................. 21 (xiv) Concept of nationality .................................................................... 21 PART TWO: PROCEDURES FOR THE DETERMINATION OF STATELESSNESS ....................................................... 25 A. GENERAL ............................................................................................................ 25 (1) Overview ....................................................................................................... 25 (2) Determination of statelessness and the right to a nationality ....................... 25 B. ESTABLISHING DETERMINATION PROCEDURES ........................................... 27 (1) Design and location of determination procedures........................................ 27 (2) Access to procedures ................................................................................... 28 (3) Procedural guarantees.................................................................................. 28 C. COORDINATING REFUGEE STATUS AND STATELESSNESS DETERMINATIONS ............................................................... 31 D. ASSESSMENT OF EVIDENCE ............................................................................ 32 (1) Types of evidence ......................................................................................... 32 (2) Issues of proof .............................................................................................. 34 (3) Burden of proof ............................................................................................. 34 (4) Standard of proof .......................................................................................... 34 (5) Weighing the evidence .................................................................................. 35 (6) Passports ...................................................................................................... 36 (7) Enquiries with and responses from foreign authorities................................. 36 (8) Interviews ...................................................................................................... 37 (9) Credibility issues ........................................................................................... 37 E. ADDITIONAL PROCEDURAL CONSIDERATIONS.............................................. 39 (1) Group determination ..................................................................................... 39 (2) Detention ...................................................................................................... 40 (3) Role of UNHCR ............................................................................................. 42 (4) Exploring solutions abroad ........................................................................... 42 (5) Additional procedural and evidentiary safeguards for specific groups ........ 42 F. STATELESSNESS DETERMINATION WHERE THE 1954 CONVENTION DOES NOT APPLY ...................................................... 44 PART THREE: STATUS OF STATELESS PERSONS AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL ................................................................................. 45 A. INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THE STATUS OF STATELESS PERSONS ............. 45 (1) Parallels between the status of refugees and stateless persons ................. 45 (2) Overview of the standard of treatment required by the 1954 Convention ... 46 (a) Rights on a gradual, conditional scale ................................................... 47 (3) International human rights law...................................................................... 50 B. INDIVIDUALS IN A MIGRATORY CONTEXT ....................................................... 52 (1) Individuals awaiting determination of statelessness .................................... 52 (2) Individuals determined to be stateless – right of residence ......................... 52 (3) Where protection is available in another State ............................................. 54 (a) Where statelessness results from loss/deprivation or good-faith voluntary renunciation of nationality ......................................... 55 (b) Where statelessness results from voluntary renunciation of nationality as a matter of convenience or choice ....................................... 56 (c) Consideration of local ties ..................................................................... 57 C. INDIVIDUALS IN THEIR “OWN COUNTRY” ....................................................... 57 D. STATUS FOR STATELESS PERSONS NOT COVERED BY THE 1954 CONVENTION ............................................................ 58 ANNEX I - 1954 CONVENTION RELATING TO THE STATUS OF STATELESS PERSONS ................................................................ 61 ANNEX II - 1961 CONVENTION ON THE REDUCTION OF STATELESSNESS ...... 77 ANNEX III - LIST OF STATES PARTIES TO THE 1954 CONVENTION RELATING TO THE STATUS OF STATELESS PERSONS AND THE 1961 CONVENTION ON THE REDUCTION OF STATELESSNESS ................. 85 ANNEX IV - EXCERPTS FROM GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTIONS ............... 88 ANNEX V - EXCERPTS FROM UNHCR EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................. 90 INDEX ..................................................................................................................... 94 FOREWORD In the last decade there has been a renewed impetus on the part of the international community, supported by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to address the plight of stateless persons. As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights makes clear, everyone has a right to a nationality. Without nationality, individuals face an existence characterised by insecurity and marginalisation. Stateless people are amongst the most