persons born in the territory who would otherwise be stateless go beyond those permissible under Article 1(2) of the 1961 Convention. Available data shows that there are a number of children who have been identified as stateless, some of whom were born in Lithuania. With regard to the reduction of statelessness, while some stateless persons have managed to naturalize as Lithuanian citizens, others face significant barriers to being able to do so. Those who are of “Lithuanian origin” can apply for citizenship through a simplified procedure or have their citizenship “restored” as described in this report, but all others, even if they were born in Lithuania, would need to go through the regular naturalization procedure. The fees for the procedure are cited by some stateless persons as an obstacle, and the ten year residency requirement is relatively lengthy. Therefore, in order to bring the Lithuanian law, policy and practice in full compliance with the standards set out in the 1954 and 1961 Conventions, and thereby ensure that stateless persons are able to enjoy the rights to which they are entitled, UNHCR makes the following suggestions and recommendations. IDENTIFICATION AND REGISTRATION OF STATELESSNESS IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT CONSISTENT ADMINISTRATIVE GUIDELINES BE USED BY THE AUTHORITIES THAT MAY REGISTER PERSONS AS STATELESS in the context of asylum, immigration and return-related procedures/situations and in the context of resolution of legal status, to ensure that the respective authorities use the same definition of stateless and apply the same criteria and procedural standards, including the burden and standard of proof. This would ensure that only those individuals who are stateless in accordance with the definition set out in Article 1 of the 1954 Convention are registered as such. IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT THE DEFINITION OF A STATELESS PERSON SET FORTH IN ARTICLE 1 OF THE 1954 CONVENTION BE INCORPORTED IN THE NATIONAL LEGISLATION to strengthen the understanding and application of the binding definition of a stateless person in Lithuanian law and practice. IT IS RECOMMENDED TO IMPROVE QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DATA ON STATELESS PERSONS IN LITHUANIA. This should include improving the statistics and information on the situation of stateless persons in Lithuania using a range of methods, such as analyses of residents’ registration data, population censuses, targeted surveys and studies. In this regard, Lithuania could consider how to expand the scope of the national census to capture more stateless persons who may not have a permanent place of residence, or are to be found in corrective and prison facilities. Lithuania is also encouraged to consider ways of centrally consolidating data from the municipal authorities, prisons and detention facilities and Territorial Police Units in regard to persons with “unresolved” legal status who have applied for residence permits or citizenship as well as in regard to “unreturnable” persons in detention. Furthermore, the status and profiles of the persons registered as having their citizenship “not indicated” or “undetermined” needs to be investigated. LITHUANIA IS ENCOURAGED TO UNDERTAKE A SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC STUDY OF THE STATELESS POPULATION OF LITHUANIA, including a survey on the social profile of stateless persons, the causes of their statelessness and the barriers they face in acquiring citizenship or a residence permit. Such a study would not only enable the Government of Lithuania and civil society to better understand the specific needs of the stateless population, and the possible solutions; it would also increase awareness regarding the issue of statelessness amongst the authorities, civil society groups and the wider public. U N H C R S TO C K H O L M , M AY 2 0 1 6 87