2.3.3 The human face of statelessness As discussed above, most of the stateless persons in Sweden entered the country in a migratory context. Their experiences with judicial and administrative processes have mostly been in relation to an application for asylum or a residence permit on other grounds, or for naturalization. In none of these processes does their statelessness per se appear to have been given much attention. Also, from the consultations held with national and non-governmental stakeholders, there appears to be limited awareness about the issue of statelessness generally, and the situation of stateless persons in Sweden and their rights under the 1954 and 1961 Conventions, specifically. The NGOs consulted indeed confirmed that the possible protection concerns of stateless persons outside the asylum context are not well known or prioritised by organizations working on behalf of vulnerable populations. 2.4 Conclusions and recommendations Awareness of statelessness as a distinct human rights issue, which has consequences for the individuals concerned, and for States like Sweden which are Parties to the 1954 and 1961 Conventions, is generally low among government authorities, NGOs, and the public at large. This is not least evidenced through the absence of any reference to the 1954 or the 1961 Conventions in the Government Bill on the Act on Swedish Citizenship. There is a corresponding lack of research on the situation of stateless persons in Sweden, as well as a lack of targeted assistance aimed at this group. For these reasons, coupled with the lack of information about the origins of stateless applicants for asylum in the Register of the SMA, it was difficult to get a comprehensive picture of the origins, backgrounds, and profiles of stateless persons in Sweden. Unfortunately, the scope of this research project did not allow UNHCR to conduct participatory assessments with stateless persons in Sweden, which would have been valuable to learn more about stateless persons’ profiles and situation. UNHCR would therefore recommend that such a participatory study be undertaken, as it would shed light on the situation of stateless persons in Sweden and how their statelessness affects their situation in Sweden. Individuals holding a residence permit in Sweden are registered by the Swedish Tax Agency in the Population Register, which inter alia holds information about the individual’s nationality status, including if he or she is stateless, or of “unknown” nationality, or if his or her nationality is “under investigation”. The SMA maintains a separate Register of individuals being processed pursuant to the national aliens or citizenship legislation, including persons seeking international protection or stay in Sweden on other grounds. While an individual’s nationality status, including his or her statelessness, is registered and publicly available in the Register of the SMA, there is no readily available information about the countries of birth or former habitual residence of persons registered as stateless, or as having “unknown” nationality or “under investigation” while undergoing these procedures. This limits the accessibility to information concerning the origins and backgrounds of the persons registered as stateless, as having “unknown” nationality or as having their nationality “under investigation” by the SMA. UNHCR therefore recommends exploring the possibility of recording such persons’ country or place of former habitual residence in the Register of the SMA in a manner which enables the generation of statistical reports containing this data. As indicated above, the Swedish Tax Agency and the SMA use the same categories when registering persons who are stateless, or potentially stateless, namely “stateless”, “unknown” nationality, and nationality “under investigation”, which is positive. Inconsistencies in the actual registration of an individual’s citizenship status in the respective registers could nonetheless arise due to the lack of a legal definition of a stateless person in the national legislation, the absence of common guidelines on how to interpret and apply the aforementioned categories, and the lack of an automated system for updating and aligning information in the two registers. UNHCR STOCKHOLM, 2016 29