Refugee Status, Arbitrary Deprivation of Nationality, and Statelessness within the Context of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees

The 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees provides opportunities for stateless persons to be recognised as refugees. This research paper discusses whether statelessness, discrimination, and arbitrary deprivation of nationality, either on its own or when taken with other forms of harm, amounts to persecution for the purpose of Article 1A(2) of the Refugee Convention in the jurisprudence of national and international courts worldwide. This is an important question because the absence of determination procedures and a protection regime specifically for stateless persons in many jurisdictions makes refugee and/or complementary protection the only options. This paper examines existing landmark judicial decisions worldwide, relevant UN documents, and academic writing. It concludes by suggesting when (arbitrary) deprivation of nationality should lead to a finding a persecution, based on good practice.