♤ A “stateless person” is someone who is not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law.

♤ The 1951 Refugee Convention is the key legal document in this context. Ratified by 145 State parties,

o it defines the term ‘refugee’ and

o outlines the rights of the displaced,

o as well as the legal obligations of States to protect them.

♤ UN’s 1951 convention relating to the status of refugees, in response to mass persecutions and displacements of the Second World War. It defines a refugee as someone outside the country of their nationality and is unable to return to their home country because of well founded fears of being persecuted.