3.4.2.4 IDENTIFICATION AND TRAVEL DOCUMENTS Article 27 of the 1954 Convention provides in its entirety: “The Contracting States shall issue identity papers to any stateless person in their territory who does not possess a valid travel document.” Therefore, identity papers should be granted to all stateless persons physically present in the territory of the State and irrespective of their right to reside. These “identity papers” can be temporary or final, and the issuance of an identity paper does not result in an obligation on the State to keep the stateless person within its borders.181 Compared to “travel documents” referred to in Article 28 of the 1954 Convention, “identity papers” act as a “certificate of identity” or “domestic passport” showing the identity of the stateless person; they are not for journeys abroad.182 Stateless persons present in Sweden, whether legally or illegally, are not entitled to any specific identity papers. Asylum-seekers in Sweden, including those who are stateless, are issued with an identity document called an “LMA card” by the SMA, in accordance with a regulation of the SMA.183 According to the same regulation, immediately upon the lodging of an asylum application, asylum-seekers are issued with a receipt confirming their submission of an application; this serves as temporary proof of a pending asylum application until the LMA card is issued (within 14 days from lodging the application). An identity card can be issued to persons who are registered in the Population Register and who have turned 13 years, in accordance with the Act on Identity Cards for persons registered in the Swedish Population Register.184 Identity cards are issued by the Swedish Tax Agency. A requirement for issuing an identity card is that a person’s identity has been established. If a person has a residence permit in Sweden, his or her identity is considered established if the information provided in the identity card application is consistent with the information registered in connection to the residence permit. For this purpose, the Swedish Tax Agency has direct access to the Register of the SMA concerning personal information, which is relevant for the issuance of the identity card.185 Article 28 provides in its entirety: The Contracting States shall issue to stateless persons lawfully staying in their territory travel documents for the purpose of travel outside their territory, unless compelling reasons of national security or public order otherwise require, and the provisions of the schedule to this Convention shall apply with respect to such documents. The Contracting States may issue such a travel document to any other stateless person in their territory; they shall in particular give sympathetic consideration to the issue of such a travel document to stateless persons in their territory who are unable to obtain a travel document from the country of their lawful residence. Chapter 4, Section 4 of the Aliens Act provides for the issuance of a specific passport for travel outside of Sweden (travel document) for refugees and stateless persons. Furthermore, Chapter 2, Section 7 of the Aliens Decree refers directly to the 1954 Convention, stating that a travel document shall be issued in 181 Robinson Commentary to the 1954 Convention, para. 50. 182 Ibid. 183 Migrationsverkets föreskrifter om Tillfälligt LMA-kort för utlänning i Sverige och dokument som intygar att innehavaren är asylsökande, MIGRFS, 08/2015, 16 November 2015, available at: http://goo.gl/gac0B3. 184 Lag (2015: 899) om identitetskort för folkbokförda i Sverige, available at: http://goo.gl/g4Mcq2. 185 Decree on handling of personal information in the activities in accordance with the aliens and citizenship legislation, Förordning (2001: 720) om behandling av personuppgifter i verksamhet enligt utlännings – och medborgarskapslagstiftningen, available at: http://goo.gl/hcAOW4. Section 6 of the Decree contains a provision on direct access of the Swedish Tax Agency to the register of the SMA. The access is limited to information that is required for the issuance of an identity card by the Swedish Tax Agency. UNHCR STOCKHOLM, 2016 53