2.4 Conclusions and recommendations Representatives of national authorities interviewed for this research have generally not recognized statelessness as a problem that needs to be addressed. However, staff members at the Migration Divisions of the Territorial Police Units, which are the authorities dealing with stateless persons directly, had a more nuanced view and acknowledged that stateless persons face specific problems in Lithuania. Members of civil society have recognized that statelessness is an under-reported, under-funded, and often misunderstood, issue. Statelessness in Lithuania arises against the backdrop of its independence from the Soviet Union and the subsequent dissolution of the latter. The majority of the stateless persons currently residing in Lithuania have not or could not obtain Lithuanian citizenship through the so-called “zero option”. While a variety of reasons caused this situation, proactive efforts need to be undertaken with a view to reaching those persons and facilitating their access to procedures pertaining to the acquisition of Lithuanian citizenship. Some 40% of stateless persons included in official statistics were born in Lithuania. Most of the others were born in former Soviet Republics. In recent years, however, a small number of stateless persons have come to Lithuania through the migration route. There are currently three numbers used to quantify the body of stateless persons in Lithuania. The Statistics Department uses the number 3,500 for the year 2011 and the Migration Department uses the number 4,151 as of 1 August 2012. The definitions and methodologies used by both lack clarity. According to the latest population census, there were 2,400 stateless persons living in Lithuania in 2011. Importantly, official tallies of stateless persons do not include stateless asylum-seekers, “unreturnable” stateless persons and stateless persons with “unresolved” legal status. For the last fifteen years, eight stateless persons (on average) applied for asylum every year. Disaggregated protection statistics reveal that since 2003, almost 25% of the stateless – asylum seekers have been granted subsidiary protection. There are no reliable statistics regarding the number of “unreturnable” stateless persons and stateless persons with “unresolved” legal status. Datasets used by the Statistics Department include a group of residents whose citizenship status is described as “not indicated” or “undetermined”. There were 12,100 such persons residing in Lithuania in 2011. It is unknown who exactly comprises this group. Interviews conducted with stateless persons for this study have confirmed that most of those interviewed would like to acquire Lithuanian citizenship and want to be able to fully participate in society, including through voting in national elections. Persons with “unresolved” legal status find it very difficult to regularize their stay in Lithuania, principally because the cumulative administrative fees are unaffordable for many stateless persons. Obstacles to travelling abroad, including to countries of origin or previous residence because of statelessness were quoted as a serious problem by many participants. The specific problems mentioned were the price of the travel document and of the country visas, the short duration of the Travel Document and the necessity of visas to travel to countries of origin for stateless persons, obstacles that Lithuanian citizens do not face. To overcome some of the challenges faced in accurately reporting on the number and profile of stateless persons in Lithuania, it is recommended that the Government of Lithuania establishes a consistent and accurate methodology of collecting statistical data about stateless persons residing in the country, in particular in the Statistics Department, Residents’ Register and the Migration Department. Information regarding the methodologies should be made publicly available. Centralization of data from the municipal authorities, prison and detention facilities, as well as Territorial Police Units regarding the number of persons with “unresolved” legal status should also be considered. 40 M A P P I N G S TAT E L E S S N E S S I N L I T H UA N I A