4 Shortcomings in national implementation of requirements under Article 1 of the 1961 Convention The acquisition of Czech nationality by children born in the territory of the Czech Republic who would otherwise be (or are) stateless is subject to conditions pursuant to the Czech Citizenship Act that go beyond the wording of Article 1 of the 1961 Convention. More concretely, there is a condition that at least one parent of such a child must have a permit to reside in the Czech Republic for a period longer than 90 days as of the child’s birth. Moreover, the MoI will not grant nationality to a child born in the Czech territory who became stateless only as a consequence of the parent’s failure to take necessary steps in relation to the authorities of his/her country of nationality that would subsequently ensure that the child obtains citizenship of that country upon birth. In addition, conclusions drawn from the semi-structured interviews with stateless persons can be divided as follows: 1 Issues associated with addressing the legal and residence status of stateless persons The testimonies have confirmed that national legislation has offered no effective and durable solutions for stateless persons without valid documents in the migratory context. Some of them were, therefore, subjected to repeated periods of irregular stay with limited or no legal avenues to achieve a permanent solution to their plight. 2 Lack of avenues to obtain identity and travel documents The Czech Republic has made reservations to Articles 27 and 28 of the 1954 Convention, which concern identity and travel documents. The present research has shown that the absence of documents represented one of the most acute problems for stateless persons. The inability to prove one’s identity causes a number of difficulties and prevents access to a whole range of rights and everyday matters, such as the ability to receive mail. At the same time and as shown from the research undertaken, even if individuals were recognised as stateless persons in the Czech Republic, they would still be unable to travel abroad unless they obtained the Czech foreign national’s passport, which is only reserved for persons with permanent residence pursuant to the reservation made to Article 28 of the 1954 Convention. The reservations made by the Czech Republic lead to a situation where persons cannot leave the country even after being recognised as stateless. 3 Expulsion decisions and repeated detention Stateless persons were at risk of repeated deprivation of liberty while being subjected to the authorities’ unsuccessful efforts to expel them from the country. Majority of stateless persons interviewed during the research have experienced detention for the purpose of expulsion, several repeatedly. Some of them were also sentenced to criminal expulsion (mostly for not respecting the previous orders to leave the country) and put in expulsion custody. Their lives were marked by fears of being apprehended and detained. Furthermore, stateless persons expressed their fears (mostly theoretical and as a backdrop to their lives) of being expelled to a place where they have no ties and do not belong. UNHCR Czech Republic 49