amendments. These will most probably be in line with the proposals of the working group, the subsequent statements by the various stakeholders and further investigation into the matter.152 Section 134 of the Aliens Act153 provides that an Aliens passport can be issued to an alien residing in Finland if she or he cannot obtain a national passport from the authorities of the country of origin, if she or he is stateless or if there is another specific reason. The Government Bill specifically mentions that in practice, persons who cannot obtain a national passport are often stateless persons.154 However, if a stateless person has been granted refugee status, she or he will be issued with a Refugee travel document instead, in accordance with Section 135 of the Aliens Act. Finland made a reservation to Article 28 of the 1954 Convention, stating that Finland would not issue specific travel documents to stateless persons but stateless persons lawfully residing in Finland would be issued with Aliens passports. Considering the wording of the 1954 Convention which only requires a travel document to be issued and does not specify it as a specific travel document for stateless persons as well as the provisions on issuance of Aliens passports, including the reference to stateless persons in the Government Bill, it would seem that the reservation to Article 28 is no longer necessary. It is therefore recommended that Finland lift its reservation to Article 28. 3.5 Conclusions and recommendations The Nationality Act divides the definition of stateless person in two; involuntarily and voluntarily stateless person. This division, in particular at legislative level, is rare in international comparison. The travaux préparatoires in the Government Bill of the Nationality Act does not provide any details or explanations as to why such a division has been considered necessary and it does not explain why the definition of stateless person in the 1954 Convention was not adopted as such. UNHCR’s Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, paragraph 51, refers to voluntary renunciation of nationality. According to the Handbook, the question of an individual’s free choice is not relevant when determining eligibility for recognition as stateless under Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention; it may, however, be pertinent to the matter of the treatment received thereafter. Those who have renounced their nationality voluntarily might be able to reacquire such nationality, unlike other stateless persons. Paragraph 162 of the Handbook further states that a Contracting State need not necessarily grant or renew permission for stay to individuals who have voluntarily renounced their nationality, nor would these persons be entitled to all of the rights foreseen by the 1954 Convention. However, it is clear that even those who have voluntarily renounced their nationality are to be considered stateless. In particular, the part of the voluntary stateless person definition in the Nationality Act, which states that a person who is stateless due to her or his parent’s or guardian’s will is considered voluntarily stateless, appears somewhat problematic. A child who remains stateless because of her or his parent’s or guardian’s will does not choose statelessness. Furthermore, in light of the case law presented above (and also in Section 4.3.1.1. below), it appears that at least in some cases where the child has not acquired any other nationality, which in the view of the authorities has been the choice of the parents, the child has been considered to be of unknown nationality and not stateless. This is a clear deviation from the definition in Section 2 of the Nationality Act and Article 1 of the 1954 Convention. While Finland does not have a specific statelessness determination procedure, the determination of citizenship status procedure can also be used for determining statelessness. Determination of citizenship status is 42 152 E-mail from the Ministry of Interior, 5 November 2013. 153 Ulkomaalaislaki, 301/2004. 154 Hallituksen esitys 28/2003, detailed justifications of Section 134. MAPPING STATELESSNESS IN FINL AND