appeal is not futile. Finally, there is very little accessible information about the procedure for individuals concerned.47 20. The identification of stateless persons is of utmost importance in guaranteeing the rights of stateless persons living in the country. While the 1954 Convention to which Switzerland is a party does not explicitly prescribe how stateless persons should be identified, it implicitly requires states ‘to identify stateless persons in order to accord them appropriate standards of treatment under the Convention’.48 A formal statelessness determination procedure would offer the most effective means to protect the rights of stateless persons49, including rights such as the liberty and security of the person. Such a procedure would also allow the state to gain a better understanding of the extent of statelessness and to better monitor the status and treatment of stateless persons in Switzerland.50 The co-submitting organisations therefore recommend that Switzerland put in place a dedicated, formal statelessness determination procedure that meets the standards set out in relevant UNHCR guidance.51 21. In order to determine statelessness in full accordance with the 1954 Convention, a statelessness determination procedure should, according to the UNHCR Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, be simple, accessible to everyone within the Swiss territory, fair and efficient.52 The procedure should be formalised in law and observe due process guarantees.53 In compliance with these standards, the Swiss statelessness determination procedure should provide for a shared burden of proof, the standard of proof should be reduced and applicants should be offered an individual interview.54 Moreover, information and counselling about the procedure should be widely disseminated in order to facilitate access to the procedure.55 Additional procedural and evidentiary safeguards for child applicants should be put in place, including ‘priority processing of their claims, provision of appropriately trained legal representatives, interviewers and interpreters as well as the assumption of a greater share of the burden of proof by the State’.56 Government officials who may come in contact with stateless persons through their regular work (for example, social services or immigration control) should be trained to identify potential applicants and should refer them to the determination procedure.57 Finally, authorities involved in the identification of stateless persons should be provided with training on statelessness and the rights of stateless persons. 22. According to Article 31(1) of the Federal Act on Foreign Nationals (FNA) persons recognised as stateless in Switzerland have the right to be granted a residence permit in the canton in which they are legally residing. So far courts have not decided whether this requirement to reside legally in a canton entails a ‘lawful stay’ requirement based on which persons recognised as stateless could be refused a residence 47 Recently, the SEM published general information about the procedure on its website, available at: https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home/asyl/staatenlosigkeit.html. 48 UNHCR, Statelessness Handbook (note 12), para 144. 49 UNHCR, Good Practices Paper – Action 6: Establishing Statelessness Determination Procedures to Protect Stateless Persons, 11 July 2016, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/57836cff4.html, p. 2. 50 UNHCR, Global Action Plan to End Statelessness, Action 6, 4 November 2014, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/545b47d64.html; UNHCR, Mapping Statelessness in Austria, January 2017, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/58b6e5b14.html, para 125. 51 See also Council of Europe, Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), Resolution 1989 (2014) on access to nationality and the effective implementation of the European Convention on Nationality, 9 April 2014, para 5.2.2; Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), Resolution 2099 (2016) on the need to eradicate statelessness of children, 4 March 2016, para 12.2.3. 52 UNHCR, Statelessness Handbook (note 12), paras 63, 68 and 69. 53 Ibid, para 71. 54 Ibid, paras 71, 89-93. 55 Ibid, para 68; UNHCR, Good Practices Paper – Action 6, (note 49), p. 5. 56 UNHCR, Statelessness Handbook (note 12), para 119. 57 UNHCR, Good Practices Paper – Action 6, (note 49), p. 4. 8