France today became the 20th country to sign the Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. Henri Hoppenot, permanent representative of France to the United Nations signed for his government at a brief ceremony this morning in the office of Constantin Stavropoulos, legal counsel to the UN.
The convention-drafted at United Nations headquarters by a conference of plenipotentiaries which met September 1954-accords an internationally recognized juridical status to an individual who has no link of nationality with any state and only on this ground. It differs from the refugee convention in that the latter benefits only those stateless persons who also belong to certain well-defined categories of refugees.
This convention will come into force on the 90th day following the day of deposit of the sixth instrument of ratification or accession. Those countries which have previously signed the convention are: Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, Federal Republic of Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Italy, Lichtenstein, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Vatican City. None has as yet ratified or acceded to the convention.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
