CYIL vol. 15 (2024)

VERONIKA D’EVEREUX [o]wing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of [their] nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail [themself] of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of [their] former habitual residence, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it. 13 Based on this definition, stateless persons who were outside the country of their previous residence, were eligible to enjoy the protection under the Refugee Convention. The Refugee Convention had a separate approach to refugees with and refugees without a nationality. The Convention covered only some categories of stateless refugees, while others remained outside its scope. 14 T he 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons in Article 1 included the definition of the stateless person as ‘a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law.’ 15 Neither the 1951 Refugee Convention, nor the 1954 Convention relating to Stateless Persons granted protection to the third category of the persons who were displaced, whether internally or beyond borders of the state of their origin. 16 Thus, large numbers of stateless persons remained outside the scope of protection of these conventions. There are nevertheless valid reasons for protection of the internally displaced persons, and due to this fact, there were established special UN agencies (other than UNHCR) also providing aid to the people who do not fulfil the definition of a refugee and at the same time they do not enjoy the protection of any state. In addition, another group of internally displaced persons emerged due to climate change and natural disasters, such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, or mudslides. These environmental situations cause people to relocate internally, within their country of origin, but sometimes it causes people to cross borders. None of the existing international and regional legal instruments aimed at refugees specifically addresses the plight of such people. This might be a reason for states to consider adopting a definition as well as legal framework for people who become refugees and in the next generations potentially stateless for environmental reasons. 17 T he 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness 18 was adopted in order to compliment the 1954 Convention and to form the international legal framework to address 13 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, UN General Assembly, 28 July 1951, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 189, p. 137. 14 GOODWIN-GILL, c. w. 15 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, 28 September 1954, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 360, p. 117. 16 GOODWIN-GILL, c. w. 17 UN. Refugees. [online] [accessed on 19 May 2024] Available at: https://tinyurl.com/3t6bc2z5. UNHCR. Statelessness and Climate Change. [online] [accessed on 19 May 2024] Available at: https://tinyurl. com/y2b8ak4m. JANKUV, J. Environmentalizácia medzinárodného práva verejného a jej vplyv na právo Európskej únie a právny poriadok Slovenskej republiky. [ Environmentalization of international public law and its influence on the law of the European Union and the legal order of the Slovak Republic.] Praha: Nakladatelství Leges, s. r. o., 2021, pp. 190–202 18 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, New York, 30 August 1961, United Nations Treaty Series, vol. 989, p. 175.

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