23. In relation to the lack of data available data on statelessness in Ireland, the ICI, the Institute
and the ENS wish to refer to UNHCR’s Global Action Plan to End Statelessness, which seeks to
“improve quantitative and qualitative data on stateless populations”. UNHCR acknowledges
in its plan that “measuring statelessness is complicated given that stateless people often live
in precarious situations on the margins of society” and that “frequently, stateless persons are
not only undocumented but also ignored by the authorities and uncounted in national
administrative registries and databases. Most even go uncounted in population censuses”.
24. However, UNHCR also highlights that “quantitative data and qualitative analysis, which
includes an assessment of the scale of the situation in terms of magnitude and geographical
spread; the profile of the affected population (including its demographic composition with
data disaggregated by sex and age); an analysis of the causes and impacts of statelessness
(including in terms of civil, political, economic and social rights); and an overview of obstacles
to and potential for solutions are all essential for States to adequately respond to statelessness
and to enable UNHCR to fulfil its mandate as well as measure progress in implementing the
Global Action Plan”.
25. Furthermore, the ICI, ENS and Institute draw attention to the fact that the collection of data
on stateless children is one of the measures of implementation required of states by the
Committee on the Rights of the Child, in order to fulfil their obligations under Article 7 of the
Convention. For example in its Concluding Observations on Belarus, the Committee
articulated its concern regarding the “lack of data on the number and condition of stateless
children residing in the State party”; and urged the state to ensure the “right of all children to
acquire a nationality… in order to prevent statelessness” inter alia, by collecting “data on
stateless children”.xix
Travel Documents
26. A number of stateless persons have arrived in the context of free movement within the EU,
for example from countries such as Estonia and Latvia, and – due to the absence of a formal
statelessness determination procedure – are not generally identified as stateless even where
they are not recognised as a national of any other state and are not able to obtain a passport
or other travel documents, in a situation where they have come to Ireland on the basis of
national passports that were subsequently revoked (see Case Study 1 above) or where they
have come as applicants for international protection and were subsequently granted
permission to remain on humanitarian or other grounds.
27. The Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) is empowered to issue a ‘New York
Convention of 28 September 1954 (Stateless Person)’ travel document. However, despite this
provision, it is general practice to issue a ‘Temporary Travel Document’ to those who present
as stateless. Unlike a travel document issued under a UN Convention, the ‘Temporary Travel
Document’ may only be issued in ‘exceptional circumstances’ to a person who is currently
resident in Ireland, and does not hold a national passport and, most importantly, the INIS is
not obliged to issue travel documents in such instances.
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