is the gap in practical recommendations for non-States Parties to the 1951 and 1954 Conventions in
issuing machine readable travel documents to refugees and stateless persons which was explored at
an Experts Roundtable in 2024.
It should also be noted that the current report mainly focuses on two aspects: a) if the country is
issuing a travel document and which type, and b) if the the travel document is machine readable. In
addition to these criteria, there are other compliance areas that could be explored once these key
points on access and machine readability are in place. In particular, the Schedule of the 1951 and 1954
Conventions also outlines obligations on price and recognition of CTDs issued by other States that
would be interesting to explore in future stocktaking reports.
Ultimately, a travel document is an enabling tool which can link refugees and stateless persons
to opportunities and solutions, yet currently 17 million refugees live in countries without access
to a machine readable travel document. In order to progress, States, along with UNHCR, ICAO,
development actors and the private sector, must fund and support the inclusion of refugees and
stateless persons into national systems, including their architecture into identity and document
issuance frameworks. Providing this access aligns with UNHCR’s Global Compact on Refugees to
expand third-country solutions and ICAO’s Doha Declaration on MRCTDs.
NOTE: To complement the report, two annexes are attached. The first outlines significant global and regional
developments that have occurred since the last stocktaking update was issued in 2019. The second annex
provides an accounting broken down by States which outlines their issuance type as well as if they are
States parties to the 1951, 1954, or ICAO Conventions. By providing this information, we hope to continue the
momentum towards future positive developments, provide transparency in the data used to populate the report
and work together with States and actors to make any needed improvements.
7
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