Statelessness in Czechia | January 2024 5 identified", and "Palestinians". The MoI keeps separate statistics for international protection procedures9, which categorise asylum-seekers and refugees according to their nationalities. The CSO also provides annual data on the number of foreigners disaggregated by gender, age, and nationality.10 The legal and policy framework in Czechia has some positive elements and notable gaps. Czechia has obligations under international and regional agreements, as a party to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Czechia also has international obligations to protect the right to a nationality and the rights of stateless individuals according to other UN and regional treaties to which it is a party.11 Nevertheless, there is no formal mechanism for determining statelessness leading to a comprehensive protection status. Although the Immigration Act regulates a procedure by which the MoI can recognise and confirm statelessness, there are still significant limitations and gaps in the rights of applicants and those who are recognised as stateless. The socio-economic rights of stateless applicants are not guaranteed, and persons recognised as stateless are initially granted only a tolerated stay visa for one year. This approach violates Czechia’s international obligations and the protection objectives of the 1954 Convention, as it does not establish a stable residence status and therefore makes integration more difficult.12 In terms of preventing and reducing statelessness, while there are some safeguards prevent childhood statelessness, these are only partial and depend on the actions status of the parents. Positively, there are no legal provisions empowering authorities revoke Czech citizenship, no automatic loss mechanisms, and there are safeguards prevent statelessness in cases of voluntary renunciation of citizenship.13 to or to to To be stateless is not to be recognised as a national of any country. Stateless people have specific rights under international law, many of them parallel to the rights of refugees. The two main international instruments addressing statelessness are the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Other international and regional declarations and agreements are relevant in some contexts. Article 1 of the 1954 Convention defines a stateless person as someone ‘who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law’. This definition is also considered to be customary international law. UNHCR’s Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons confirms that this definition requires consideration of legislation and the way that laws and policies are applied in practice. Czech law defines a stateless person in Section 49a of the Immigration Act as a “foreigner who is not considered by any State to be its national under its law.”14 This definition mirrors the Czech translation of the 1954 Convention, to which Czechia is a state party, and which has direct effect in domestic law. However, the Czech translation of the 1954 Convention 9 See here See here 11 For further information, see Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council at the 42nd Session of the Universal Periodic Review: Czech Republic. OPU, ENS, ISI. Available here. 12 ENS. Statelessness Index Czechia Country Profile. Available here. 13 ENS. Statelessness Index Czechia Country Profile. Available here. 14 Section 49a of the Immigration Act. Available in CZE here. 10