The main purpose of the legal analysis section of the report is to investigate the implementation of the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons1 (1954 Convention) and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness2 (1961 Convention) and related international and regional standards in the area of statelessness in Lithuanian law and policy. In analyzing current Lithuanian approaches to statelessness, particular attention has been paid to whether and to what extent Lithuanian law and policy provide for the following ways of addressing statelessness: prevention of statelessness, identification and protection of stateless persons and reduction of statelessness. 1.1 Executive summary Lithuania is party to both the 1954 Convention and the 1961 Convention, as well as to the main international human rights instruments containing provisions of relevance to the prevention and reduction of statelessness, and the protection of stateless persons. While questions of citizenship and nationality maintain national prominence in Lithuania, statelessness is generally not perceived as an issue either by national authorities or by the public. International organizations and NGOs working in the area of human rights, migration and refugee issues report that they have rarely or never come across statelessness. At the same time, Lithuania should be applauded for preventing a potentially significant statelessness problem after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, through the “zero option”, and through its continued implementation of a status regularization procedure, under which certain categories of stateless persons can have their citizenship restored, or acquire citizenship through a simplified procedure. Quantitative and qualitative statistics on the stateless population in Lithuania could be improved. While the Residents’ Register and Migration Department database contain data on some stateless persons, others who could be stateless, such as persons with “unresolved” legal status and “unreturnable” persons, are not included in the statistics. One reason for this gap could be attributed to the fact that Lithuania does not have a dedicated statelessness determination procedure, in which persons – including those who who have arrived to Lithuania in a migratory context – could have their potential status as stateless determined. Consequently, there exists no special status for stateless persons, and those who would qualify as stateless pursuant to Article 1 of the 1954 Convention are not – on the basis of being stateless – entitled to the corresponding set of rights. Nonetheless, nationality or statelessness is assessed to a certain degree in asylum and removal procedures, as part of the establishment of the identity of the person concerned. If a stateless persons is issued a residence permit on other grounds (than their status as stateless) in Lithuania, they are largely guaranteed the rights they would be entitled to under the 1954 Convention. There is, however, a need to amended some law and policy to ensure full compliance in the areas of access to social welfare, issuance of identity documents, access to legal aid and ensuring all stateless children access to primary education. Participatory interviews carried out with a number of stateless persons in Lithuania reveal some of the challenges they experience in trying to find a solution to their situation. The majority of persons interviewed expressed a desire to become Lithuanian citizens, but said they were unable to afford the fees related to the procedure. Naturalization of stateless persons who are not of “Lithuanian origin” is not facilitated. 1 UN General Assembly, Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, 28 September 1954, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 360, p. 117, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3840.html. 2 UN General Assembly, Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, 30 August 1961, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 989, p. 175, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b39620.html. U N H C R S TO C K H O L M , M AY 2 0 1 6 9