2.2 A statistical overview of the stateless population in Poland 2.2.1 Specifics of the data used The PESEL population register gathers data on Polish citizens and foreigners staying on the Polish territory. The register is run by the Ministry of Digital Affairs. As a rule, the data is entered into the register by the competent local municipal authorities. Currently, the Act on the Population Register34 introduces an exhaustive list of residence permits that qualify the foreigner to be included in the register. In other words, only foreigners holding such permits can be included in the register. According to Article 8(11) of the Act, the register includes data on “citizenship or status of a stateless person”. The data on “citizenship or status of a stateless person” is registered by the competent Voivod or the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration. The Head of the Office for Foreigners creates and runs the national collection of registers and records on foreigners as specified in the Act on Foreigners.35 2.2.2 The target population and differences in definitions used Polish law does not define a “stateless person”. Nonetheless, the term is used, mainly in the asylum and migration procedures. For statistical purposes, the Office for Foreigners registers “stateless persons” or persons of “unknown nationality” using the Eurostat36 definitions of these terms. In a written reply to an inquiry concerning the definitions employed for statistical purposes, the Office for Foreigners quoted the definition of a stateless person enshrined in the 1954 Convention.37 However, it is the Border Guard service that has the statutory task of carrying out the identification of foreigners. The nationality determination made by the Border Guard service is therefore also crucial during the refugee status determination proceedings before the Office for Foreigners. The definitions used by the Border Guard service differ from that of the Office for Foreigners. For the Border Guard service, “a stateless person” is defined as a foreigner with no state affiliation [descriptive term that could also be translated simply as “stateless”], a foreigner stripped of citizenship or claiming to be a citizen of the so-called unrecognized state. 34 Act of 24 September 2010 on the Population Register, Journal of Laws 2017, Item 722. 35 Act of 12 December 2013 on Foreigners, Journal of Laws 2013, Item 1650. 36 Eurostat (European Statistical Office) is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in Luxembourg, more information available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/home 37 In a written reply to an inquiry about the definitions employed for statistical purposes, the Office for Foreigners explained that “stateless persons are defined as persons who are not considered as nationals by any State under the operation of its law, as set out in Article 1 of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. The category “unknown” citizenship shall include persons for which no information on individual citizenship is available”. Eurostat provides a definition of a stateless person in its Glossary, relying on the definition set out in the 1954 Convention, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Glossary:Citizenship UNHCR POLAND, SEPTEMBER 2019 17