and 604 as ‘state unknown’.19 These numbers include stateless persons or persons of unknown origin that have been recognised as refugees and granted asylum.20 The Federal Statistical Office released different statistics for 2015 with 339 persons recognised as stateless and 1’467 as ‘no indication’.21 According to figures provided by the Federal Council in March 2017, in total 404 persons have been recognised as stateless since 2012. Out of these, 352 persons had previously applied for asylum.22 From 2010 to 2015, 136 children below the age of sixteen were recognised as stateless.23 There is no data on the number of applications for recognition of statelessness and on the approval rates. 13. The category defined by the SEM24 as ‘stateless’ covers persons who have officially been recognised as stateless according to the 1954 Convention and have been granted a status as a stateless person. The precise definitions of the categories ‘without nationality’ and ‘state unknown’ are not known but both may include stateless persons who have not had their statelessness identified or face barriers in doing so, as well as persons who are at risk of statelessness. The lack of clarity in this regard, is of concern. 14. These differing statistical data provided by different Federal authorities, as well as the vagueness of the categories used, illustrate that the real dimension of statelessness in Switzerland is unclear. UNHCR estimates the actual number of stateless persons or of persons at risk of statelessness to be higher than indicated by the data provided by the Federal authorities.25 Moreover, the statistics only include those persons who are known to the authorities. Stateless persons living in Switzerland irregularly are not reflected in the official statistics.26 15. The identification and protection of stateless persons in Switzerland is further hindered by the very narrow definition of statelessness applied by the SEM and the correspondingly low recognition rate. In addition to the criteria set out in the 1954 Convention, persons are only recognised as stateless if they have lost their nationality through no fault of their own and have no means of reinstating it.27 Moreover, 19 State Secretariat for Migration, Statistics December 2015, available at: https://www.sem.admin.ch/dam/data/sem/publiservice/statistik/auslaenderstatistik/2015/12/2-10-Best-Tot-Kat-d-2015-12.xlsx. 20 State Secretariat for Migration, Statistics December 2015, available at: https://www.sem.admin.ch/dam/data/sem/publiservice/statistik/auslaenderstatistik/2015/12/2-30-Best-Flue-Kat-d-2015-12.xlsx and Statistics December 2016 available at: https://www.sem.admin.ch/dam/data/sem/publiservice/statistik/auslaenderstatistik/2016/12/2-30-Best-Flue-Kat-d-201612.xlsx. 21 Federal Statistical Office, Statistics on Foreign permanent resident population by citizenship, 1981-2015, available at: https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/bevoelkerung/migration-integration/auslaendischebevoelkerung.assetdetail.299719.html. The difference can, according to the SEM, be explained by the fact that the two authorities use different sources as well as different definitions. 22 Reply by the Federal Council of 6 March 2017 to parliamentary question Leo Müller, Statut d’apatridie (17.5081), available at: https://www.parlament.ch/fr/ratsbetrieb/suche-curia-vista/geschaeft?AffairId=20175081. 23 Statement by the Federal Council to interpellation Fridez (note 10). Data on the number of stateless children between sixteen and eighteen are not publicly available. 24 The SEM does not publish the definitions on which the categorizations and the statistics are based. Neither does the Federal Statistical Office. 25 UNHCR, Prévenir l’apatridie, protéger les apatrides, En Suisse et au Liechtenstein, December 2016. Available at: http://www.unhcr.ch/fileadmin/rechtsinfos/staatenlosigkeit/UNHCR_Prevenir_l_apatridie_-_Proteger_les_apatrides.pdf. UNHCR is conducting a comprehensive mapping of statelessness in Switzerland, which will presumably be published in early November 2017. 26 There is no data on the number of stateless persons or persons at risk of statelessness among irregular or undocumented migrants in Switzerland. It must, however, be assumed that there are stateless persons as well as persons at risk of statelessness among the roughly 76’000 irregular migrants in Switzerland. The most recent comprehensive study on sans papiers in Switzerland is silent on the issue of statelessness, see Michael Morlok and others, Les sans-papiers en Suisse, Étude de B,S,S Volkswirtschaftliche Beratung, December 2015, available at: https://www.sem.admin.ch/dam/data/sem/internationales/illegalemigration/sans_papiers/ber-sanspapiers-2015-f.pdf. 27 See also the information provided by SEM, available at: https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home/asyl/staatenlosigkeit.html. 5