Documents prove Lithuanian descent if they show that at least one of the person’s parents or grandparents is or was Lithuanian, as well as a written statement of the fact that the person considers himself or herself Lithuanian.391 Some stateless Roma persons interviewed for this research could not prove their Lithuanian descent because their parents or grandparents had not been registered as citizens or residents of the Republic of Lithuania prior to 15 June 1940.392 Some only have their parents’ or grandparents’ birth registered in church records, but this is not enough to prove descent for the purposes of restoration of citizenship. This problem was only reported among the Roma community in Vilnius and Pagėgiai. 4.4 Conclusions and recommendations Several provisions of Lithuanian law, such as those extending the right to nationality to children of stateless permanent residents born outside the territory of Lithuania, are to be praised. However, some provisions in the current nationality law, including some of the amendments to the Law on Citizenship adopted on 9 May 2013, which were aimed at bringing the law in line with the 1961 Convention, do not fully meet the standards set out in the 1954 and 1961 Conventions and related obligations under other international human rights treaties to which Lithuania is a State Party. Lithuanian law contains a combination of modes of acquisition according to Article 1 of the 1961 Convention, where certain children born stateless acquire Lithuanian nationality automatically at birth, while other categories of children born stateless have to follow an application procedure, with stipulated requirements. Children born to two lawfully and permanently residing parents or are either both stateless, or where one is stateless and the other is unknown, acquire Lithuanian citizenship automatically at birth, if the child would otherwise be stateless. Stateless persons born on the territory who do not meet the aforementioned criteria for automatic acquisition of citizenship at birth, but who have been a lawful permanent resident for the past 5 years, passed exams on the Lithuanian language and basics of the Constitution, have a lawful means of subsistence, and do not fall under any of the exclusion clauses in the Citizenship Law, can apply for citizenship. These conditions go beyond those permissible under Article 1(2) of the 1961 Convention. The rules for preventing statelessness contained in Articles 1(1) and 1(2) of the 1961 Convention must be read in light of later human rights treaties, which recognize every child’s right to acquire a nationality. By applying Article 1 of the 1961 Convention in conjunction with Articles 3 and 7 of the CRC, UNHCR recommends that States grant children born on their territory, who would otherwise be stateless, nationality automatically at birth. If Lithuania, however, opts to continue granting nationality to some of the persons born on its territory who would otherwise be stateless by application, it then needs to be done in line with the enumerated conditions set out in Article 1(2) of the 1954 Convention, and not have the effect of leaving the child stateless for a considerable period of time.393 84 391 Information available at the Website of the Migration Department: http://www.migracija.lt/index.php?-866363388. 392 G.K. and A.M., interviewed on 29 August 2012. 393 See Observations by the UNHCR Regional Office for the Baltic and Nordic Countries on the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ proposal no. 122398-02 introducing amendments to the Lithuanian Law on Citizenship, paras. 6-15, at: http://goo.gl/a9cIYt. 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