Indeed, even though the national legal system contains provisions to prevent statelessness, the rules are not always apparent to persons who could make use of them. This viewpoint has for example been voiced by a member of the Bhutanese culture organization, who was not aware of the entitlement to acquire nationality if a child born in Denmark is otherwise stateless. Most of the Bhutanese who arrived to Denmark up to 2012 were illiterate and it was difficult for them to find the necessary information on the internet. According to the organization, it is not enough to disseminate information at the language schools. Many Bhutanese had difficulties in understanding general information. In the organization’s opinion, information should be provided by the municipality, the ‘accompanying group’ or a ‘spokesperson’. This way, this population would be better informed on the option to obtain nationality for their children. Given that Article 12 in the 1961 Convention expressly provides that States Parties’ obligations under Articles 1 and 4 are to be retroactive, the establishment of a cut-off age for stateless persons born in Denmark to apply for Danish nationality – where such persons may have been kept in ignorance of their rights under Article 1 or 4 – is not permitted under the 1961 Convention. 4.2.1.1.4 Political concern with regard to convention obligations and 2018 dialogue with UNHCR274 What has caused some concern in relation to the naturalization of persons born stateless in Denmark is the 1961 Convention’s conduct requirements. According to the Convention, a state may require that a stateless applicant has not been convicted of an offence against national security and not been sentenced to imprisonment for a term of five years or more on a criminal charge. Several politicians in the Danish Parliament are critical of the requirements in Article 1(2), which they consider “out of date”275. The Danish Security and Intelligence Service has three times, in the years 2011 – 2013, informed the Minister of Justice that among the applicants listed in a biannual naturalization bill was a Danish-born stateless applicant who might be a danger to national security without fulfilling these requirements. For cases not pertaining to stateless persons, the general rule is that, if the Security and Intelligence Service considers an applicant a possible security threat, that person is removed from the naturalization bill and excluded from naturalization for a period of normally five years, as provided in Section 21 of the Naturalization Circular. The political parties in Parliament were divided when debating the three naturalization bills, which included a Danish-born stateless person who was considered a possible security risk. One political party decided to vote against the adoption of the bills; others wanted to refuse the application for naturalization.276A majority in Parliament has asked the Government to re-negotiate the interpretation or the content of Article 1(2) of the 1961 Convention. Still, in the three concrete cases, a parliamentary majority voted for acting in accordance with the 1961 Convention, and the three stateless applicants have acquired Danish nationality by naturalization. Related questions on the interpretation of the 1961 Convention have been debated. One is whether it is in accordance with the 1961 Convention to require that Danish-born stateless applicants make a solemn declaration confirming that they have not been found guilty of a crime against the state and have not been sentenced to imprisonment for five years or more.277 In early 2018, the Government of Denmark reached out to UNHCR to start a dialogue on the interpretation of the 1961 Convention with regard to stateless applicants for Danish citizenship who at the time of application are charged or indicted for serious crimes or assessed as a potential threat to national security. 274 This section was drafted by UNHCR 275 Article 1(2)(c) of the 1961 Convention reads “that the person concerned has neither been convicted of an offence against national security nor has been sentenced to imprisonment for a term of five years or more on a criminal charge” in order to be eligible to acquire nationality through application in accordance with the Convention. 276 See for instance the parliamentary debate of bill L 11 (2011-2012) accessible at http://www.ft.dk/samling/20111/lovforslag/l11/index.htm. 277 This is a requirement for naturalization in Danish practice. UNHCR Representation for the Nordic and Baltic Countries 67