paid employment, but those who are self-employed and/or having a liberal profession (such as doctors, lawyers, veterinarians, etc.), are addressed by Articles 18 and 19 of the 1954 Convention.205 Article 17(1) requires that a stateless person be “lawfully staying” in a country in order to enjoy a standard of treatment as favourable as possible, and in any event, not less favourable than that accorded to aliens generally in the same circumstances. This is the same standard of treatment as Article 15 of the 1954 Convention. Recall that “lawfully staying” refers to stateless persons either lawfully admitted or whose illegal entry was legalized. It is understood not to refer to stateless persons who although legally admitted or legalized, have overstayed the period of their lawful admission or violated any other conditions attached to their admission or stay. 206 Furthermore, shorter periods of stay authorised by the State may suffice so long as they are not transient visits. Stateless persons who have been granted a residence permit would fall within the category of “lawfully staying”. Lawfully staying also covers individuals who have temporary permission to stay if this is for more than a few months.207 As discussed at Article 15, there is also an argument that those who are granted a permit because they cannot be removed could be considered “implicitly lawfully staying”. With respect to the meaning of those “in the same circumstances” under Article 17(1), Article 6 of the 1954 Convention states that the term “implies that any requirements (including requirements as to length and conditions of sojourn or residence) which the particular individual would have to fulfil for the enjoyment of the right in question, if he were not a stateless person, must be fulfilled by him, with the exception of requirements which by their nature a stateless person is incapable of fulfilling.”208 For the purposes of Article 17(2), “sympathetic consideration” means that the Contracting State has an obligation to deal with requests by stateless persons in regard to wage-earning employment and to not refuse them without proper reason. This obligation is despite the discretionary and non-mandatory nature of Article 17(2).209 1951 Convention travaux préparatoires, supra note 61 at 108. Robinson Commentary to the 1954 Convention, supra note 11 at 36. 207 Handbook on Stateless Persons, supra note 12 at para. 137. 208 1954 Convention, supra note 3 at Art. 6. See also Robinson Commentary to the 1954 Convention, supra note 11 at 19-20, which further explains: “The representatives of Great Britain and the Netherlands supported the inclusion of the article on the ground that, under the Convention, stateless persons, if placed on the same footing as other foreigners, would be obliged to fulfil certain requirements (for instance, produce evidence of nationality) which they could not fulfil…Stateless persons are treated under Art. 7 (1) and some other articles of the Convention in the same way as other foreigners or as nationals. The words “in the same circumstances” were introduced by the drafters of the Refugee Convention as a clarification of this “assimilation” because the treatment of foreigners or nationals need not necessarily be uniform but depends in many instances upon the special status of the person: the length of stay, the conditions of admission or the possession of certain documents by an alien, or certain qualifications of the national.” 209 Robinson Commentary to the 1954 Convention, supra note 11 at 30. 205 206 41 41